Mobius 31 Years Later: The Sneak
by White Fire the Dragon
Summary: In one world, 30 years in the future, King Sonic's friends and family had just stopped Tikhaos from ravaging the world, with the help of a visitor from the future. But while this was merely a possible future, in another world, this really did happen. P.S. I own nothing. All characters belong to SEGA and Archie Comics Publications. All Batman references belong to DC.
1. Chapter 1

**When the Day Ends…**

 **Location: Planet Mobius. City of Portal, Angel Island. Business District.**

 **Time: Monday 2:45 A.M. Year 3269.**

 **Echidna Security Team (E.S.T.) Radio Transmission** **:** _Attention all available units in Business District! We have confirmation of a bank robbery in progress at the First Mobian Bank! All available units are to converge on location from all available angles! We also have confirmation of this being a hostage situation! All units are warned to take extreme caution! Once you have arrived you are to await further orders from you superiors! Repeat! All available units in Business District are to…_

 **Location: Outside First Mobian Bank.**

 **Time: 2:50 A.M.**

 **E.S.T. Captain (in megaphone)** **:** Attention! We have the building surrounded! Come out with your hands up!

Everything was quiet. The E.S.T. was contemplating whether or not to storm the building, but didn't want to endanger any of the hostages.

 **E.S.T. Officer** **:** Orders sir?

 **E.S.T. Captain** **:** I'm thinking.

 **E.S.T. Officer (2)** **:** Hopefully we can get this all under control before **He** shows up.

 **E.S.T. Captain** **:** I know. These days, the king will do anything to see even the slightest bit of action. The last we need is "his majesty" showing up to try and "handle" it.

 **E.S.T. Officer (2)** **:** Actually, sir, I was talking about the other " **He** ".

 **E.S.T. Captain** **: "** Other"? Oh, **Him**. Don't worry. We have special orders for **Him**.

 **E.S.T. Officer** **:** " **Him** "? Sir, what are you two talking about?

 **E.S.T. Captain :** Surely they briefed you about "The Sn-

 _ **VWOOSH**_

The sudden gust of wind blinded them momentarily. When it was over they opened their eyes to what was the cause of it. The captain groaned to see that the cause of it was none other than a green eyed, blue spikey headed hedgehog with white gloves and red sneakers that had white straps and golden buckles. The hedgehog also wore a red cape, a golden shoulder pad, and a solid gold crown sitting atop his head. It was none other than the literal king of the world himself, King Sonic the Hedgehog.

 **King Sonic** **:** Yo, cap. What's the deal tonight?

 **E.S.T. Captain** **:** _(Sigh)_ Just an average bank robbery, sire. Nothing that we can't handle. We have everything under control.

At that moment a third E.S.T. officer ran up to the group.

 **E.S.T. Officer (3)** **:** Captain! We have confirmed the identity of the one leading this bank robbery.

The officer smirked in the king's general direction in a way that said "see?". He then turned his attention back toward the officer.

 **E.S.T. Captain** **:** Tell us what criminal scum it is this time.

 **E.S.T. Officer (3)** **:** Uh, I think that maybe **you** would want to hear it perhaps somewhere more… _private_ , sir?

The officer motioned in the king's general direction.

 **E.S.T. Captain** **:** Nonsense! I'm sure our **King** would also like to hear the name of the **scumbag** who will be spending the night in jail.

The captain stared at Sonic with a wise alack smirk as he said "king" with emphasis, and kept his smile the whole time as he listened to his subordinate up until he heard the name.

 **E.S.T. Officer (3)** **:** … uh, it's… Yon "The White Fang", sir.

As they all heard the name their looks changed to looks of concern, while Sonic's look was one of thought.

 **King Sonic** **:** Yon "The White Fang". Isn't he on top of a lot of Most Wanted lists?

All the while, as the captain started arguing with the king about whether or not they need him, on the rooftop of a nearby building, a dark figure is currently making his way, unseen, to said bank. The dark figure stared down at the situation below, then looked toward his goal. Swiftly but quietly, he made his way to the rooftop entrance of the building without being seen.

The door was locked. Not much of a surprise. It was guarded with a special electronic lock that either required a keycard or a typed in password. To most people breaking in somewhere, this made things more difficult, but to the figure, it only made his job so much easier. He then lowered a black gloved hand to his black utility belt. Out of said belt, he retrieved a small device. He pointed said device toward the terminal where the password or keycard are used to unlock the door.

He then kneeled down, opened up the device, placed his hands on the edges and in the empty space in the middle, there was suddenly holographic image of random characters flashing across the intangible screen. He placed his thumbs onto the controls of the device and started scanning through the characters. In a matter of seconds, the characters spelled out CASHMONEY. A second later, there was an image of an unlocked lock flashing across the screen. The dark figure deactivated and put away the device, and walked inside with ease.

After walking down to the floor where the vault was, the figure could hear voices on the other side of the wall. Unlike most people, who would normally just hear muffled talking, the figures black spiky cowl that covered most of his face allowed him to hear the voices clearly. He started looking around for something that could be of assistance and then noticed a small grate in the wall above.

The figure pulled something else out is utility belt. It appeared some sort of gun with a strange metal claw of some kind at the end of the barrel. He pointed the claw at the grate and pulled the trigger. The claw then shot forward quickly and as soon as it made contact with the grate the claw shut tightly and clung to it. The claw was still attached to the gun by a long metal cord.

The figure grabbed ahold of the cord with his free hand and pulled. In less than a minute the grate was removed from the wall. The vent was close enough to the ground for the figure to jump up and grab the edge. After pulling himself inside he began to follow the ventilation until it led to another grate. Through the grate he could see that he was right where he needed to be.

He placed his black booted foot onto the grated and pressed forward, being extra careful not to make too much noise. After he felt the grate give way, he pressed his foot onto the other edges until the rest of the grate came loose and he let it fall open. He poked his head out just enough so that he could look around and remain unseen. He looked down and saw that the vent was good enough distance from the ground. The figure then pressed an unseen button on his left hand gauntlet.

The entire room was now dark. He could still see the room but now there were objects in the room that were now either orange or blue. He noticed that a few of the objects were actually people. There was a bunch of blue people in the middle. He noticed that some of them were mobians while there were others that were overlanders. All of them were tied up. The figure also noticed a few other people except they weren't tied up. Most of them were orange. This meant that they had fire arms. The others were blue. All but one of them were with an orange one, on their knees with their hands behind their heads.

 **? (in thought)** **:** Those must be more of the hostages.

The figure turned his attention to the free blue figure standing next to the tied up blue figures that he knew had to be hostages as well. He took note of the long thin blue part of his right hand.

 **? (in thought)** **:** The one with a sword must be in charge.

With a push of an unseen button, he turns off his "detective vision".

 **? (in thought)** **:** But I can't see who it is. I'll have to get to a better vantage point.

The figure turned his detective vision back on and looks up. He noticed a few large orange objects and recognized them as gargoyles. He again shuts off his detective vision. Again, the figure reaches for his utility belt and pulls out a gadget. He points it towards one of the gargoyles and fires. A long line is shot forth and quickly and quietly attaches itself onto the gargoyle. With push of a button, the line retracts and pulls the figure forward. Once he reaches the gargoyle he grabs hold and pulls himself up.

From his new vantage point he had a better view of the situation. In the distance he could see that the group of armed thugs standing near the tied up hostages were all eastern bats. Unlike western bats, eastern bats' wings were attached to their arms. One bat stood out from the rest, the leader with a sword. While all of the other bats were purple, he was pure white. He also had a Yagyu clan's ninja head band tied around his forearm with the Rich Nights emblem scratched out.

 **? (in thought)** **:** That must be Yon "The White Fang". He certainly has a record… in quite a few countries. One of the biggest crime bosses in the world. So why is he in Portal robbing a bank? This doesn't match his usual M.O. One thing is certain though, I have to save the hostages in the other rooms first. Then I'll have to draw that group of armed men away from the tied up hostages, otherwise I run the risk of getting _someone_ shot.

The figure turns on his detective vision and turns his attention toward the four hostages and four hostage takers throughout the vault floor.

 **? (in thought)** **:** Two each on the second and first levels.

He looks at the first two hostage takers. He takes notice of the vents that lead into the rooms. The figure turns off his detective vision. and uses his "grapnel gun" to quietly swing to the gargoyle on the other side of the room. The figure drops down silently and sneaks over to the grate.

* * *

Later, inside the room.

 **Bat Thug** **:** Don't worry. As long as you and no E.S.T. fools do anything, you'll be fine. Although, I'm pretty sure I heard something outside. You better hope that those E.S.T. idiots don't try anything, or else master White Fang might decide to make an example of you. Heh heh heh…

 **Hostage** **:** Oh please, no!

 **Bat Thug** **:** No need to worry. Just stay down and **shut up** , and all will be... _**aughmm-mm-mmmmm**_ …

Out of curiosity, the hostage began to raise his head. He noticed that he wasn't ordered to keep his head down, so he continued to raise his head. He then started to look worried as he saw the shadow of large horned beast on the wall in front of him. The man started to slowly turn around until he saw what looked like a monster before him. Before he could scream, the dark figure grabbed a hold of the man and held his mouth shut.

 **? (whispering)** **:** Don't worry, I'm not here to hurt you. I'm here to help you.

After releasing the man and backing up, the man could see who his rescuer was.

 **Hostage (whispering)** **:** No way! Y-you're-!

 **? (whispering)** **:** What happened here?

 **Hostage (whispering)** **:** W-we were just about to lock up for the night, but then these guys came in and started shooting up the place. No one died, thank chaos, but still. They barricaded the doors and told one of us to call the E.S.T.

 **? (whispering)** **:** What do they want?

 **Hostage (whispering)** **:** I-I don't know. I asked if they wanted money, but their leader just swatted it out of my hand. Then he said, "What I want will come." or something like that.

 **? (whispering)** **:** Go find somewhere to hide. I'll handle the rest.

 **Hostage (whispering)** **:** Thank you.

As the hostage heads to the nearest hiding spot it can find, the dark figure makes his way to the next hostage taker, then the next, then the next, until he finally reaches the final hostage taker. All is quiet as the hostage taker decides to have some fun with the female Overlander.

 **Bat Thug (2)** **:** Hey sweetheart, you ever kiss a Mobian before?

 **Hostage (2)** **:** You stay the hell away from me you disgusting-

 **Bat Thug (2)** **:** Hey-hey now pretty lady I was just asking a question, no need to be racist.

 **Hostage (2)** **:** I'm not, but your breath smells so bad I can smell from here.

 **Bat Thug (2)** **:** Oh-ho, so you were smelling my breath, huh? So you **were** thinking of-

 **Hostage (2)** **:** In your dreams, you sick freak. My husband's Head of Security. If you even **think** of touching me, you'll be sorry.

 **Bat Thug (2)** **:** Ooh, feisty. I like that in a woman, Mobian or otherwise. Your husband's a lucky guy. So why not share some of that luck.

 **Hostage (2)** **:** I swear, you lay hand on me and-

 **Bat Thug (2)** **:** Oh, I'm **so** sca- mmm…

 **Hostage (2)** **:** What, all out of- (gasp)!

The hostage turns her head to see the dark figure standing before her with the hostage taker struggling in his arms. The dark figure hand his hand over the thug's mouth to keep him making a loud noise and alerting the others near the tie up hostages too soon.

 **? (whispering)** **:** Be quiet and get somewhere safe. Now!

It didn't take long for the hostage to comply with the figure's demands.

 **?** **:** Now just one more thing.

Once the hostage was gone, the dark figure lifted his arm up and pointed his elbow toward the thug's scull. Once he believed he raised it high enough, he brought it down hard and slammed it against the thug's cranium.

 **Bat Thug (2)** **:** AUGH!

The sound of impact combined with the thug's screams of pain before falling unconscious echoed throughout the floor. All of the conscious thugs were alerted including White Fang. The tied up hostages also heard the loud noise.

 **White Fang** **:** He is here.

All of the thugs and hostages looked all around in response to what he just said. While the hostages looked somewhat relieved, the thugs looked somewhat concerned. White Fang then looked to his henchmen.

 **White Fang** **:** What are you standing around for?! Get out there, find him, and kill him, NOW!

Out of fear of upsetting their "master" they begin searching the floor. After a few minutes, no one seemed to find anything other than four unconscious bodies, four un-fired guns, and a slight lacking of hostages. Then one thug comes out of a room where he found one of the bodies and guns.

 **Bat Thug (3)** **:** I can't find anything in-

Before the thug even realized it, something rope-like ties around his legs and begins to pull him back.

 **Bat Thug (3)** **:** Whoa-ugh!

As a result, he lands on his face, and is immediately dragged back into the room despite his flailing arms.

 **Bat Thug (3)** **:** H-HEY WAAAAAAAIIIT…! AUGH!

After a few seconds, the thug's body flies right out of the room and lands on the floor unconscious. One of the thugs starts shooting into the room from a safe distance. After many shots were fired he stops. He slowly approaches the room. After a few steps a cry out for help is heard from the below.

 **Bat Thug (4)** **:** AHH-NOOO…

When they all look to where the scream is coming from they see a thug holding onto the corner of a wall for dear life.

 **Bat Thug (4)** **:** SOMEBODY HELP!

Despite his best efforts to hold on he loses his grip and is pulled out of sight.

 **Bat Thug (4)** **:** HELP MEEEEEEEE… AUGH!

All that can be seen is a gun sliding into the open. The thugs start looking left and right but can't seem to see the dark figure. When a third scream is heard, they turn to see another thug being pulled into the darkness, after a few seconds he is seen being thrown back out while screaming until he lands on the ground unconscious. After a while of searching, one of the thugs manages to stumble across one of the hiding hostages. It was the female Overlander. He soon gets an idea. He grabs the woman by the arm and then wraps his arm around her neck. He points his gun toward her head and walks out.

 **Bat Thug (5)** **:** Alright listen up, freak! If you even think about trying anything and I'll blow this wretch's head clean off! You understand?!

Little did he know, the dark figure was hiding on a gargoyle, high out of sight. He could see that the foolish hostage taker had made a vital error. He was standing underneath **another** gargoyle. Using his grapnel gun, he makes his way to the gargoyle above the hostage taker. He leans over the side until he is completely hanging upside down over the hostage taker, imitating a bat. The thug was so confident in his plan that he didn't notice the only flaw in it. That is, of course, until it was too late. The dark figure drops down quickly but silently behind the hostage taker and grabs him suddenly, covering him in his cape. While in a panic the thug accidentally drops his weapon and releases the hostage. In less than ten seconds the thug is pulled up and out of sight.

All of the remaining thugs make their way toward the sound of screaming. Unfortunately, by the time that they get there, there is nothing to see but a gun without and owner. Then they soon here more screaming overhead, they look up to see something drop from above, stop suddenly, and start bouncing from a tether. It was the thug. Once the bouncing stopped the thug tried his best to speak but found it hard to since all of the blood started rushing to his head. He soon fell unconscious. The remaining thugs started to get more nervous.

 **Bat Thug (6)** **:** How is he doing this?!

 **Bat Thug (7)** **:** Shut up or we'll all be next!

Then all of a sudden there was the sound something hitting the ground and then almost instantly the entire area was clouded in smoke. All around there was nothing but the sound of coughing. But then, the sounds started to decrease more and more until only **one** person could be heard coughing. The smoke started to clear more and more until the thug could once again see. The thug nearly dropped his weapon when he saw that all of the other thugs were lying on the ground unconscious. The thug looked back and forth for the figure but couldn't see anything. His fear started to get the better of him as he began to panic.

 **Bat Thug (6)** **:** WHAT ARE YOU?!

 **? (whispering)** **:** Your worst nightmare.

From the ground all that anyone can hear is a terrified scream, and random rounds fired, and then silence. Yon "The White Fang's" face remained straight but raised his eyebrow in intrigue.

 **White Fang** **:** Enough of these childish games! Reveal yourself to me and no harm shall come to the hostages!

Almost immediately, White Fang and the hostages could make out a silhouette that resembled a bat-winged demonic creature flying down toward them. Its shadow was the exact same shape as it covered White Fang and the hostages. Even as the dark figure landed before him, White Fang's expression did not falter.

 **White Fang** **:** I had heard the rumors of a winged "shadow creature", but I wanted to be sure. It wasn't easy finding a way onto Angel Island, let alone, reach the world capital undetected. But I must admit, seeing you in person made it all worth the trouble. Before we settle this, I believe introduction is in order. I am-

 **?** **:** I know who you are. Yon "The White Fang". Dragon Kingdom's biggest crime boss.

 **White Fang** **:** Ah so you've heard of me. Do you know how I alone survived being a professional crime boss in the Dragon Kingdom for this long?

 **?** **:** You were an outcast from the Yagyu clan, but with your skills you built a criminal empire. So why are you here in Portal?

 **White Fang** **:** When I heard the rumors about you, I felt like I needed to see it for myself. This bank-robbery was merely a means of summoning you here. Well, I told you who _I_ am. It is only fair that you tell me who _you_ are.

 **?** **:** For years I wondered about who I am, but I now realize that **who** I am is not as important as **what** I am.

 **White Fang** **:** Then tell me, **what** are you.

 **?** **:** I'm the one who's going to bring you down, and bring you in.

 **White Fang** **:** Hm-hm-hm-hm, I think not. Remember, I'm a former member of the Yagyu clan.

All of a sudden, White Fang threw his arm down and smoke filled the area. The smoke screen only distracted the dark figure for a second before regaining his surroundings. Using his detective vision, he could see White Fang heading for the elevator, stop, and then turn around.

 **White Fang** **:** Follow me to the roof. Away from any distractions.

Yon "The White Fang" then exited the vault floor. Once he was gone from sight, the dark figure turned to the tied up hostages and freed them. All of them were grateful.

 **Hostage (3)** **:** T-thank you! We thought were gonna-

 **?** **:** Inform the others hiding in this room that it's all clear. Then go inform the E.S.T. about what happened.

The dark figure turned around and headed to where White Fang exited from.

 **Hostage (4)** **:** Where are you going.

 **?** **:** To finish this.

With that, the dark figure ran for the stairway and used his grapnel to climb to the top faster. Once he made it to the roof access all that he saw was White Fang standing there, waiting for him it seemed.

 **?** **:** What's this all about? Why waste your time robbing a bank?

 **White Fang** **:** I needed some way to draw you out. I wanted to see if you were somebody, worth working with.

The dark figure's stared at White Fang with a slightly confused look, but it looked so much like his usual scowl that you could barely tell.

 **?** **:** What?

 **White Fang** **:** I would like to purpose an alliance. Join me. With your rare abilities and my resources, I feel we could accomplish great things together. Imagine it. Standing above all, more power and riches than you dared dream. Why, we could even overthrow the king and my empire will rule over all of Mobius!

The dark figure didn't look like he was even thinking about it. He focused all his attention on White Fang.

 **?** **:** I don't work with criminals. You need to turn yourself in.

White Fang's look turned to that of one filled with disappointment.

 **White Fang** **:** Ah, what a shame. Just another lap dog. What a waste of such talent. Very well then.

White Fang draws his sword and points it toward the dark figure.

 **White Fang** **:** Come "Lap Dog" and face your end.

The dark figure slowly approached. A few seconds later, White Fang charged forward, sword in hand. He jumped up and brought his blade down for and overhead slash. The dark figure followed his movements and brought up his spiked gauntlets to block the attack. He then pushes the bat off of him and quickly delivers a series of punches to the face and body. followed by a kick to the stomach. All of them made contact except for the kick which made contact with his sword instead and merely pushed him back.

The dark figure goes for a jump punch to the head. White Fang rolls out of the way of his attack and proceeds to stab him in the back once he lands. The dark figure turns his whole body around quickly enough to counter with his gauntlet. White Fang then throws something on the ground and the entire roof is covered in bright light and loud noise that only lasted a second. Once the dark figure recovered half a second after, he notices that White Fang had disappeared. He looks up just in time to see him come down from high in the air to deliver a finishing blow. The dark figure raises his gauntlets and intercepts the attack. White Fang then begins to deliver strike after strike with his sword over and over again, putting more and more force into every strike in hopes of finding an opening and finishing it. The dark figure just kept blocking and blocking attack after attack. White Fang was fed up and just decided to deliver a finishing side slash to end it, but the dark figure quickly grabbed the sword by clamping both hands onto the blade and used his own strength to keep the sword away.

White Fang proved to have _some_ strength since he was somehow able to push the closer to the dark figures neck, but the dark figure also proved that he too had his own formidable strength and managed to keep the sword from getting any closer. They were locked in a battle of strength, but it was also a matter of life and death. If the blade were slip out the dark figures hands, even in the slightest, it could be the end. The dark figure saw only one way to end this. He increased the pressure that he had on the blade and tilted his head back. In an instant and with full force he swung his head back until it collided with White Fang's, knocking him back. He was slightly dazed for a moment but recovered somewhat. He reached into his pocket and pulled out three shuriken. He threw them at the dark figure who easily blocked two with his gauntlets, one after the other, and dodged the third by jumping over it.

The dark figure pulled out three circular objects with what looked like black "S"'s on them from his utility belt while in the air, and when he landed the three circles each spouted two blades from the slit holes in the edges. Up close they looked like "S"'s as well. The dark figure was now holding them each by a blade and threw them at White Fang. White Fang was able to stop the strange flying "boomerang" objects with his sword. But they were just a distraction. The dark figure then came at White Fang and threw a punch at him while holding onto his cape with the same hand he was using to deliver the punch with.

When the dark figure's attack made contact White Fang felt a strange jolt like electrocution surge threw him from where he was hit, making him feel dazed and confused. The dark figure soon followed up on this attack by delivering a "beat down" on White Fang. With the grip on his sword lessened the dark figure was able to knock it out his hand and into the air. He then kicked White Fang in the chest throwing him to a wall. He barely recovered enough to see the dark figure move to the shadows and grab his sword as it fell into his hand. White Fang looked at the dark figure.

 **White Fang** **:** (Pant) (Pant) What are you?

The dark figure stepped out of the shadows revealing to be a hedgehog in some kind of modern armor. He kept coming closer and closer. As soon as he stepped into the light, his full suit was now visible to all who were around to see it. His boots were black as was the rest of his suit from the spiked gauntlets to his upper armor to his lower armor (and in case you were wondering, yes I mean pants. His armor is based off of the Dark Knight trilogy armor/the Arkham series armor) to his cape to his utility belt to his cowl that covered his head from the bridge of his nose all the way to his spines. His eyes were hidden behind some kind of white fabric in the eye-holes. And on his chest was a large black letter "S".

 **?** **:** I am the defender of this city, and if need be, the world. I am the preserver of happiness to the people of this world, and the bringer of fear to those who seek to ruin it. I am the vengeance of those who have ever been hurt or died because of oppression by those who seek to make their lives a misery because they think their above them. I am the knight that defends the innocence from the shadows. While the king and queen bring peace, happiness and order to the world, I strive to preserve what they work for, and punish those who threaten it. I. AM. **THE SNEAK**!

As the dark figure, the Sneak, spoke his name he threw the sword in his hand at White Fang. He flinched only to hear the sound of metal cutting through concrete. He opened his eyes and turned his head to see his sword impaled into the wall an inch away from his face. He turns his head back towards his foe just in time to see him charge at him and react. He quickly grabs his sword from its resting place in the wall and pulls it out in the form of a sideways slash in hopes of hitting his enemy, but the Sneak saw this and readied his gauntlets.

Luckily for White Fang he had a feeling that if this failed he could at least force him back enough for him to have some room to let out a series of attacks. He thought that if he was tired, then the Sneak must be as well. Unfortunately, this wasn't the case. The Sneak intercepted the attack like he thought he would, so with whatever strength he had, he pushed the Sneak away about an inch and started going crazy with his sword in hopes of cutting him at least once. He just needed him to flinch in pain a little and he could probably finish him. But his theory about the Sneak being as tired as he was proved to be inaccurate. In fact, he didn't look tired at all. As his last resort White Fang closed his eyes to focus and used every last ounce of his remaining strength to deliver a finishing overhead blow. What he heard was the sound metal hitting metal, and metal scratching metal.

White Fang opened his eyes to see his sword caught between the blades of the Sneak's spiked gauntlets. Try as he might, he couldn't find the strength to free it.

 **The Sneak** **:** _Hmph_. It's over.

To prove that what he said was true, the Sneak pulled his arms across the air. The end result was the sword's blade being cut into three pieces by the blades of the Sneak's gauntlets, and the Sneak punching the white furred bat in the face, knocking him to the ground unconscious. The Sneak then pulled out some handcuffs from his utility belt and restrained White Fang.

 **?(2)** **:** Well, looks like somebody got the job done pretty well.

The Sneak turned his head to see where the voice was coming from. Standing in the doorway, was the king himself Sonic, with a cocky grin on his face. The Sneak ignored him and went back to handcuffing the criminal before him.

 **King Sonic** **:** Not bad.

The king was giving his trademark thumbs up and smile, but the Sneak paid him no mind. When Sonic realized that he was being ignored he just kept on talking with that same smile on his face.

 **King Sonic** **:** You know, it wouldn't hurt to at least say "Thank you." when the king is congratulating you?

With his head faced down the king couldn't see the scowl that the Sneak had on that said "Man, I hate you so much right now!" When the Sneak saw that his work was done, he turned to the king and bowed before him.

 **The Sneak** **:** Your majesty.

And with that he turned to the ledge of the building and began to walk toward it.

 **? (3)** **:** Freeze!

The Sneak stopped to see where the voice was coming from. Behind him he could see about ten E.S.T. officers running out of the stairwell with their guns pointed at him. He also heard the sound of loud propellers and then noticed that he was under some kind of bright light. He looked up and saw that it turned out to be a searchlight from an E.S.T. chopper. It also had its gun pointed at him.

 **E.S.T. Captain** **:** There's nowhere to run, Sneak! We've got you surrounded!

 **King Sonic** **:** Hey! What the heck's going on here?

 **E.S.T. Captain** **:** I'm sorry, sire, but you know the penalty for acting above the law and taking it into your own hands.

 **King Sonic** **:** You know, I already pardoned him for that!

 **E.S.T. Captain** **:** Sire, you and the queen only get to pardon someone once annually each, and the Sneak has already been pardoned twice by you two!

 **King Sonic** **:** Well when do I get to do it again?!

 **E.S.T. Captain** **:** Next month for you, two months from now for the queen.

 **King Sonic** **:** Aw man! Well what **can** I do?!

 **E.S.T. Captain** **:** You can let us do our job, sire.

 **King Sonic** **:** I mean is there any way that he can keep doing what he's doing without you guys pointing your guns at him all the time?

 **E.S.T. Captain** **:** _(Groan)_ … I **suppose** if he were to be knighted _and_ you and the queen were to change the law, then he would be… **free** to act as he so desires.

The captain groaned trying to choke out the word "free". Little did the king and the E.S.T. know (even though they were looking right at him) the Sneak had pulled two smoke pellets out of his utility belt while the conversation was going on. He knew that since he was surrounded there was no way that he could get out undetected without a scratch, or a few bullet holes.

 **King Sonic** **:** So how about it, Sneak? What do you say to being-?

 _PPIFFFFFFFF_

Before the king could finish his sentence, the Sneak had already thrown the smoke pellets onto the ground. Both some distance away from him in opposite directions from each other so that he would be concealed while at the same time they see him escape. That way he could get out with a minimal number of bullet holes. Because of this tactic, the cloud of smoke was twice as large.

 **E.S.T. Captain** **:** Well, your majesty. There's your answer. Everyone, we got a runner! Open fire!

Some used stun lasers while the rest used classic bullets and aimed low in effort to physically disable him. The chopper was an older model (because reasons) so it too used bullets. It was only supposed to keep him from running. After about a minute of shooting, the smoke began to clear.

 **E.S.T. Captain** **:** Everyone hold your fire!

When the smoke cleared away completely everyone could see… nothing. Nothing but bullet holes in the floor and scorch marks from lasers. The captain scowled.

 **E.S.T. Captain** **:** Damn, he got away!

 **King Sonic** **:** Oh, well. I suppose that there's always next time.

The king's remark only made the captain's scowl deepen.

Thirty minutes later, across town a black cat was on her way home from some last minute grocery shopping after waking up in at 12 a.m. (because reasons) only to find out that she was low on groceries. Her name was Sasha Cat. After arriving at her apartment building and parking her car, she carried her groceries inside and made her way to the elevator. After arriving at the floor where her apartment was she made her way down the hallway until she arrived at her door. She unlocked it and went inside.

 **Sasha** **:** Honey, I'm home!

When Sasha said that, she was just having fun, expecting to hear silence. But instead, she heard grunting. She wasn't expecting to hear or see anyone. But when she looked inside she was surprised to actually see someone there. She saw his suit and cape full of bullet holes. She saw him holding his cowl in his left hand trying to support himself on a table with his right hand. She saw his face, his **real** face. The face that he had hidden off from the rest of the world. She dropped her groceries and held both of her hands up to her mouth as she gasped in the direction of the face she saw. She saw his black spines with red stripes on them. She saw his ruby eyes looking back at her as his face grimaced from pain. She stared in her held gasp at the true face of the Sneak… former king of Mobius, **SHADOW THE HEDGEHOG** (kind of obvious).


	2. Chapter 2

… **The Twilight Fades...**

 **Location: Sasha Cat's Apartment.**

 **Time: 4:35 A.M.**

Sasha stood in the doorway with her groceries spread across the floor looking at the face of Shadow the Hedgehog who turned out to be the Sneak the whole time.

 **Sasha** **:** Y—y-your… your hurt!

Sasha quickly shut the door and ran to Shadow's side so that she could help him.

 **Shadow** **:** I'm fine, Sasha. I don't need-ugh!

Shadow grunted from the pain as Sasha quickly helped him stand and walked him over to a nearby bookshelf. All the while giving him a serious look in response to his retort.

 **Sasha** **:** Don't give me that! Look at yourself! Your covered in bullet holes! It's a miracle that you're still **conscious**!

Once they finally reached the bookshelf, Sasha searched until she found a large book labeled Tales on a Dark Knight. It was a fake book full of blank pages of course. Or at least that's what Sasha told Shadow.

 **Sasha** **:** We are going to the cave to get you taken care of!

Sasha pulled out the book and placed it down. She then reached into the empty slot where the book once sat and pressed a button that was made to look like part of the bookshelf itself. It was completely invisible until pressed. She then picked the book up and put it back into place. A minute later, the bookshelf slide smoothly across the floor, revealing an old elevator, and they walked inside.

 **Shadow** **:** Don't you have something **else** that needs your attention?

Shadow motioned his head and eyes to the mess of groceries on the floor.

 **Sasha** **:** Oh no! This is **much** more important than groceries!

 **Shadow** **:** (Groan)

Once they were inside the elevator, the bookshelf slid closed behind them. Sasha hit the down button on the elevator and it started moving. The walls of the ancient elevator shaft were clearly sound proofed to make sure that the noise didn't disturb anyone outside.

 **Shadow (narrating)** **:** My name is Shadow, Shadow the Hedgehog, and I am the ultimate life form and the former king of the planet, Mobius.

After a few minutes the elevator reached the ground or rather the surface of a tunnel that ran beneath the basement of the building.

 **Shadow (narrating)** **:** Throughout most of my life in the new timeline I have been forced to believe lies given to me by someone who I thought I could trust, until someone else revealed the truth to me. It may have had only been a year, but to me it feels like a **very** long time ago.

As Shadow and Sasha walked down the rocky tunnel to the unknown location that they were headed, Shadow started to recollect his experiences leading to this moment.

 **Shadow (narrating)** **:** I still remember the day I awoke from my fifty-two-year sleep. The first thing that I saw was Lien-da's face. She told me what had transpired during my slumber. The wars, the chaos unveiled upon the world, and how the one responsible disappeared after his last attempts to "solve the problem". With my memory in a fog, Lien-da earned my trust, making me believe that _she_ had the answers that I sought. My memory loss wasn't permanent however. Through the power of chaos, I could recall _some_ of the old timeline but unfortunately, not all of it. Not the **important** things. I saw myself fighting an old enemy in the jungle and on the Space Colony ARK. I saw myself surrounded by fallen enemies. I saw the enemy who I fought with so many times had become king. But I knew that I needed more.

Lien-da spoon-fed me lies and told me that they were the missing pieces in my fractured memories, and I accepted every word that came from her mouth as the truth. She told me that I had to fulfill my promise to Maria. That much I knew was true; however, she told me that I promised to "Bring peace to the world no matter what the cost." She convinced me that the only way to achieve true peace was by becoming king of this war torn world. While I had the power, Lien-da gladly provided the forces and tools. With an army of Dark Legionaries at my side I easily conquered the planet in a manner of weeks, crushing any and all obstacles that stood in my way. That included Dr. Eggman, another who I remember battling against in the old timeline.

However, even though I managed to bring peace to the world, I knew that it could still fall into ruin without stability. The only way that I could maintain it was if I married the only person capable of permanently stabilizing the government, Queen Sally Alicia Acorn of the Kingdom of Acorn. With her political connections, not only would there be stability, but I would have even more power over the planet.

With Lien-da as my second in command, my newly renamed "Dark Presence", and the connections provided by my "wife", I was able to inforce my rule over the entire planet tenfold. For years I ruled with an iron fist. But I was no king, I was a tyrant. I wasn't respected, I was feared. I may have brought peace, but I'm sure **most** of the population of the world would rather **die** than live under my rule. Not that I would allow them that luxury. I was a tyrannical, sociopathic monster, and I was too blind to see it. Fortunately, my rule didn't last much longer, with the return of the "Hero of Mobius" a coup d'état was commenced. Unfortunately, because he was so old, he lacked some of the energy and skill he had years ago that he needed to challenge me. Of course, all that time living on the streets didn't help either. I defeated him with ease.

Fortunately, because I underestimated the guardian's daughter, she managed to get the upper hand, and imprisoned me in chaos energy, freezing me in time. For five years I was frozen and in five years Mobius had flourished. "King Sonic" achieved what I had never achieved, **true** peace, and the people of the world had the happiness to actually enjoy it. That is of course, until I was freed by my former army, the Dark Presence, led by non-other than Lien-da. She told me about what had transpired in my absence. All that I had worked for had been undone except for worldwide peace. My "wife" was remarried and had twins. I wasn't **too** surprised to find out that it was Sonic, the "Hero of Mobius", who she was married too.

Lien-da suggested that I reclaim the throne that I had be removed from. To be honest, that would have been better than _my_ plan. I had decided that the world needed to be punished for its inaction to my humiliation and disgrace. During my conquest, I had eventually met someone who looked as though they could be of use to me in the future. Her original name was Tikal, a spiritual guardian of the chaos force, and companion to the water god, Chaos. After Ixis Naugus started the Ixis Resurgence which led to the elemental war, Chaos used its power to stop it but became weakened in the process. In an effort to save her friend, Tikal had to fuse with Chaos and eventually become an extremely unstable being renamed "Tikhaos".

The queen had suggested, for everyone's sake, that we have her sealed away in the castle catacombs. She feasted on chaos energy, so whenever I would visit her I would make sure to give her a small taste so is to only satisfy her and not make her lose control. In that time, I had earned her trust, so she was quite pleased to see me after being locked away for so long. After Lien-da tried to talk me out of my psychotic scheme, I decided that she had outlived her usefulness to me.

I crushed her time-shift armband, causing her to be erased from the time-stream. After that, I freed Tikhaos from her prison and fed her too much chaos energy. The end result was her changing into "Perfect Tikhaos". In her out-of-control state, the world would have been ravaged, but somehow, in the end, Sonic and his "New Freedom Fighters" managed to stop her advance. In the end, his children had delivered the finishing blow so that the guardian could use her power to revert Tikhaos back to her original form. My plan had failed, and my Dark Presence had deserted me.

Right then and there I realized that if I was to regain my throne, as well as punish the world, I was going to have to do it on my own, but in order to do that, I needed the resources that I had when I was still king. After searching through what was left of the castle, I managed to find a computer that was still online. With it I was able to find out where they had hidden my supplies.

The White Acropolis, Eggman's former secret base located in the arctic. I knew that was where I had to go. Without a chaos emerald, I couldn't travel far via chaos control, and I knew that the guardian and his daughter could sense chaos energy anyway. So I was left with only one option, I had to travel by foot. With my speed, it would only take a manner of hours, two days at the most to make it to my destination. Fortunately, I didn't receive any trouble along the way so it took me substantially less time than expected.

There I was, standing before a bunker in the White Acropolis. A bunker with _my_ insignia on it. While the catacombs underneath Castle Mobius were where the greatest threats to Mobius were kept, _this_ was where the _new_ king and queen kept **everything** that was considered best left forgotten. That is to say, everything that had to do with **me**. Since I was so far away from the city, I knew I could use chaos energy here without anyone knowing of my location. So via chaos control, I entered the bunker.

Inside the bunker was just what I was expecting to find, weapons, security cameras, banners with my insignia on them, and posters that had the word "Obey" written in bold blood red letters in front of my face. But mostly weapons. The floor as well as the walls were lined with weapons that my armies used to conquer the world. If I were to use these, combined with my own power, I could surely reclaim my thrown. After the world received the punishment that it deserved of course. But then… **it** happened.

A short distance away from me, I noticed some dried out flower petals. As curiosity got the better of me, I went over to see where they were coming from. What I saw surprised me. I had found what had appeared to be some sort of shrine. There were almost melted candles, dead roses and other flowers, as well as a few other things, all with the name of who they were meant for written on them. At the very center of it all was a small handheld device with a cracked screen and strange faded markings on the buttons. From what I remembered of the old timeline, along with what Lien-da had told me, I recognized this machine as the handheld that housed the A.I. known as "Nicole", the queen's former personal computer, advisor, and of course, close friend.

As I looked down at the small device at the center of the shrine, it didn't take me long to figure out that the White Acropolis did not only house everything from my time as ruler, but was also used a means to house what was left of the deceased A.I., as if it were some sort of tomb. After a while of looking over the "corpse", it dawned on me; if she was quite the valuable asset while she _lived_ , then perhaps she could be of use to me alive as well. With all the time that she spent with Sonic and the original Freedom Fighters, her handheld might have a vast amount of information on them, including some information on their **weaknesses**. If the original core data was still preserved in what was left, then it would only take some computer work to salvage whatever information the A.I. once had.

Unfortunately, all of the computers in White Acropolis were disabled. Luckily I had managed to repair one using parts from the left over machinery, disabled computers, some of the doctor's deceased badniks, and some parts from the war machines wielded by my old Dark Presence. I managed to hook up the handheld device to the computer, but unfortunately it was far too damaged to even so much as turn it on. The small handheld needed something. No. **She** needed something. What she needed was a "spark of life". Something that is next to impossible to acquire without the use of either a chaos emerald or a ring.

It was then that I recalled something. I searched around for a few minutes before I finally found it. The chaos syphon prototype. I remember the Dark Presence working on it to ensure that it still worked the way it was supposed to without any… side-effects. Lien-Da's predecessor, Dimitri, being the case in point. After vigorous trial-and-error they finally managed to perfect the prototype. Of course, it helped that I volunteered to be the test subject _through_ the vigorous trial-and-error. Any side-effects that the failed attempts had on me were merely temporary of course. After the prototype was perfected, they went on to complete the finished version, which is most likely now locked away somewhere in the catacombs after it was last used to free me.

All that I had to do was jury-rig a set of miniature jumper cables and attach the ends to her while the other ends were attached to the chaos syphon. Once it was done I then used a cord to attached my wrist to the chaos syphon. My plan was to have the chaos syphon transfer my power through it and into her. Surely _my_ power of chaos would be enough to revive her. So, I activated the chaos syphon, removed one of my inhibitor rings, focused on the chaos that was flowing out of me, and watched as my power flowed through the machine and into the small handheld device.

At first I wasn't sure if it was working, nothing seemed to be happening, so I increased the amount of power that I was releasing. She needed _more_ power, so I gave her more and more, focusing on trying to revive her, until finally, I saw something. For only a moment, her screen flickered a little, but then it started happening more and more. The sound of static began to fill the room but was soon followed by the sound of a struggling female voice. The static soon faded as I reduced the amount of chaos flowing into her. Her voice became clear but still a little distorted and strangely enough… confused.

 **Nicole** **:** _Huh? Hello? Sonic? Sally? Is anyone there?_

When I was certain that she was fully restored I stopped the flow of chaos energy and replaced the cord around my wrist with my inhibitor ring. Finally, I disconnected Nicole from the chaos syphon.

 **Shadow** **:** _Hello, Nicole._

I held the handheld device up to my face and stared at the cracked screen.

 **Nicole** **:** _Oh, Shadow. I'm glad that you have found me._

 **Shadow** **:** _Hm? And why is that?_

To say the least, I was surprised that she seemed to recognize me as someone she knew. And she spoke as if she were talking to a "friend".

 **Nicole** **:** _I'm just glad to see a familiar face. What happened? What is this place? Where are the Freedom Fighters?_

 **Shadow (in thought)** **:** _Familiar face? This is the first time I've ever seen this device. So why does it seem to recognize me as a friend? This doesn't make sense._

 **Shadow** **:** _How much do you remember?_

 **Nicole** **:** _According to this last memory file, Princess Sally was using me to bypass Dr. Eggman's files in order to gain information about his Death Egg II. Ah, yes now I recall. Team Dark was issued by G.U.N. to be our backup for the mission so to gain information for the United Federation as well._

 **Shadow (in thought)** **:** _The Guardian Units of the Nation? Hmmm… This "Team Dark", why does that name sound so familiar? I certainly don't remember any of this in_ _ **any**_ _of the history books I read in the library. Plus, it mentioned Sonic and Eggman, so that must mean that all of this happened_ before _the end of the second Robotnik war. But why is the name "Team Dark" the only part that sounds remotely familiar, and yet I still don't remember any of this as part of the new timeline's history._

 **Shadow** **:** _Tell me more, who was this "Team Dark"?_

 **Nicole** **:** _… What?! What do you mean? Why would you ask that, and… what do you mean by "was"?_

 **Shadow** **:** _Answer my question! As king of the planet I command you to tell me! Who were they? And_ _ **when**_ _did this all happen?_

For a moment she was silent. I stared at her for a moment until she finally asked a question that she definitely needed the answer to.

 **Nicole** **:** _What year is it?_

 **Shadow** **:** ... _Why?_

 **Nicole** **:** _It is now clear to me that I have been offline far longer than previously determined. My software is damaged and I cannot search the net for the proper date and time. So I'll ask you again,_ _ **Shadow**_ _, "What year is it?"_

 **Shadow** **:** _… 3264._

Again she was silent for a moment, but then spoke.

 **Nicole** **:** _30 years?... I have been offline for… 30 years?_

I nodded. Then she continued with a more solemn tone.

 **Nicole** **:** _Oh yes, now I remember. I took it upon myself to completely disable the Death Egg permanently. I knew that the only way to achieve this was to directly trigger a self-destruct._

Then she stopped. It wasn't hard to put two-and-two together. She destroyed herself in the process of destroying the "Death Egg". From there, I had assumed that this handheld device was all that was left of her. How wrong I was.

 **Nicole** **:** _Now, tell all that has happened since my… "secession"._

 **Shadow** **:** _No,_ _ **you**_ _answer_ _ **my**_ _question. Tell me all about this "Team Dark" you spoke of._

 **Nicole** **:** _I'm surprised that you don't remember_ _ **Shadow**_ _._

 **Shadow** **:** _ **King**_ _Shadow. And what do you mean?_

 **Nicole** **:** _I'm surprised because… they were_ _ **your**_ _team when_ _ **you**_ _worked for G.U.N._

At that moment I stopped. She said that **I** , Shadow the Hedgehog, the ultimate lifeform and king of the entire planet… once worked for the Guardian Units of the Nation. An organization that was stationed in the United Federation during second Robotnik war. That was before my rule. **Before** Lien-da had even awakened me. How could this be?

 **Shadow** **:** _THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE! I hadn't even been awoken back then!_

 **Nicole** **:** _I answered your question, so now you must answer mine. It's only fair. Also, I require more data of this world seeing as how I still can't seem to access the net. So_ _ **please**_ _, tell me_ all _that has happened._

I had decided that perhaps reviewing the past would help me figure out the truth behind the nonsense that this tiny machine was spouting. I had told her about how the "Hero of Mobius" had caused the shift in the timeline by altering it. I had told her about the new timelines history, from the two Robotnik wars to the coup d'état of my castle and Sonic taking over my rule of the planet. I had also mentioned how I was awakened by Lien-da and how I could regain minor memories through chaos control. I had concluded the history lesson with the location of where we were and how I had found her.

 **Nicole** **:** _I see. A time shift. Perhaps this is why you do not remember them and how_ _ **I**_ _am still in one piece._

 **Shadow** **:** _What ever happened on this "Death Egg II" must have damaged you, resulting in these faulty memories left behind in your system._

 **Nicole** **:** _You are wrong, my memories are not faulty, Shadow. My memories are clearly that of the old timeline. And I am_ _ **certain**_ _that princess Sally had_ left _my handheld so that I could access and trigger the self-destruct of the Death Egg directly. Meaning that I would have to have been destroyed in the process, handheld and all_

 **Shadow** **:** _The_ _ **old**_ _timeline? How is that even possible?_

 **Nicole** **:** _Perhaps in this timeline, I wasn't destroyed. So because of that, after I went offline_ here _, my handheld form somehow obtained some kind of means to house my memories from the old timeline. But how?_

Again, she was silent. I stared at her, going over everything that she had said to me. None of it made sense. How could any of it be true. I attempted to conclude it as a malfunction in the device but everything that she said sounded so clear, that it almost made sense, but at the same time, it didn't. I didn't know what to make of it.

 **Nicole** **:** _… How did you revive me just now?_

 **Shadow** **:** _I used a prototype chaos syphon to transfer my own power into your handheld._

 **Nicole** **:** _"Chaos". Of course, now it all makes sense. Earlier you said that you still have minor memories of the old timeline due to your chaos powers, correct?_

 **Shadow** **:** _Yes._

I didn't know where she was going with this.

 **Nicole** **:** _Then perhaps it is because of that same reason that I regained_ my _memories, only while_ you _only received a few,_ mine _had returned completely. Perhaps because my original memories from_ this _timeline were somehow completely erased, leaving only room for my_ _ **original**_ _memories from the_ _ **old**_ _timeline._

 **Shadow** **:** _THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE!_

 **Nicole** **:** _It isn't. It is the only logical explanation._

 **Shadow** **:** _There is no way any of that can be true!_

 **Nicole** **:** _Perhaps you require proof. Is there a functioning computer nearby perchance?_

 **Shadow** **:** _I repaired_ this _one so that I could access your files, unfortunately you were far too damaged at the moment to access anything._

 **Nicole** **:** _Let me see it._

I turned her around so that she could see the "repaired" computer.

 **Nicole** **:** _This should do nicely. Please hook me back up so that I may access what is left._

 **Shadow** **:** _I don't see the purpose in doing such a thing. I'm sure that all of the deceased Doctor's data have been erased from these._

 **Nicole** **:** _It is not so that I can access_ his _files. It is so that I can access_ _ **mine**_ _. With this I should be able to find some means to prove my claim that I am_ not _malfunctioning and that my memories_ are _from the old timeline._

At first I was considering just smashing the defiant computer, but then I began to wonder if perhaps simply allowing her do as she asked would benefit me. She would be accessing her own files and then I would be able to find whatever would be beneficial for my revenge. So I hooked her back up and let her take it from there.

She was opening herself up right before my eyes. All of the original Freedom Fighters secrets revealed to me. All that I had to do was copy it and destroy what was left of the A.I. and her handheld and then that would be it. But then-

 **Nicole** **:** _Ah, yes. Here it is. Prof. Gerald's diary. I still have the recovered data saved onto my memory files._

At that moment I froze. The diary. Not just any diary. **His** diary. Professor Gerald Robotnik's diary. The one that Lien-da had told me had gone missing when she found me. How did this… how _could_ she have any knowledge of it, let alone any of its data in her memories. At that moment all other thoughts in my head had vanished. The only ones left involved the diary.

 **Nicole** **:** This _should be enough proof to convince you. Shall I play this memory file?_

 **Shadow** **:** _Yes! Please, play the file! Please!_

I didn't hesitate to answer. At that point I didn't know what to believe, but I knew that I was desperate to know if this was the truth or a lie.

 **Nicole** **:** _Very well, one moment._

At first the screen was blank, but then something played. The very second it came on I knew where the setting was. There was no doubting it. This was the Space Colony ARK, the interstellar space station currently in orbit around the planet, and my birthplace, but there appeared to be something wrong with it. As if it were being erased somehow.

 **Shadow** **:** _What's happening?_

 **Nicole** **:** _Please do not speak until the memory is finished playing._

I remained silent and let the memory play.

* * *

See Sonic the Hedgehog #171.

* * *

There was a flash of light, and I heard a voice that annoyed me at just the sound of it. I recognized it all too well, but there were also other voices that I recognized. One sounded like it belonged to Nicole, the other was my own.

 **Sonic (on screen)** **:** _So this is where you were created?_

 **Shadow (on screen)** **:** _Yes._

 **Sonic (on screen)** **:** _Homey._

 **Nicole (on screen)** **:** _It's just as I feared. Our very presence is accelerating the degeneration. We need to be quick._

 **Shadow (in thought)** **:** _How can it be? I was under the impression that Sonic and I had always been enemies. So why do we appear to be allies here?_

I watched it continue. It appeared that the scene was seen from Nicole's point of view since Sonic appeared to be talking to the screen and Nicole's voice was heard responding to him. I had so many questions. It continued on until someone else came into the scene.

 **? (on screen)** **:** _Shadow! Welcome back!_

 **Shadow** **:** _You!_

And at that moment, I froze once again. My jaw dropped, my heart raced, I couldn't believe my eyes. Right in front of me was a face that I hadn't seen in so long.

 **Shadow (on screen)** **:** _Maria… I thought I'd lost you forever._

 **Maria (on screen)** **:** _Don't be silly, Shadow. As long as you hold me in your heart and thoughts, we'll never be apart!_

I was speechless at first, but then I suddenly felt something.

 **Shadow** **:** _Ugh! Argh!_

Pain. It felt as though my brain was forcing its way out of my skull. The file paused.

 **Nicole** **:** _Shadow?! Are you alright?!_

The pain managed to subside for the time being.

 **Shadow** **:** _-Pant- -Pant- I-I'm fine._

 **Nicole** **:** _Are you su-?!_

 **Shadow** **:** _Just play the file! -Pant-_

It continued. I heard Sonic mention that they… er… we were there for answers. I heard myself say that I had been contained for fifty years and that I had forgotten my purpose. What she said next almost made me jump. She said that we had to speak to… "Grandfather". I knew instantly of whom she was speaking.

 **Nicole (on screen)** **:** _We may have to cut this short. The data is fragmenting fast…_

 **Shadow (on screen)** **:** _I'm not leaving until I know everything._

 **?** **:** _And know everything, you shall…_

There he was. After so long I finally got to see the face of my creator, Prof. Gerald Robotnik.

 **Prof. Gerald (on screen)** **:** _Hello, Son. Fifty years is a long time to wander in the dark._

 **Sonic (on screen)** **:** Yeah, _can we get the abridged version, Professor? We're short on time here._

Clearly at the time, I was as annoyed as I was in the image before me to hear Sonic speaking to my "Father" in such a way. The pain in my head returning the moment I saw him combined with the fact that Sonic had a point only made it worse. But then the moment of truth arrived when the Professor began to speak again.

 **Prof. Gerald (on screen)** **:** _Of course. In short, Shadow… you are the ultimate protector of life on Mobius._

 **Shadow (on screen)** **:** _I am?_

 **Prof. Gerald (on screen)** **:** _Initially, your body was to be the source for a cure. Maria developed the rare_ _ **Neuro-Immune-Deficiency-Syndrome.**_ _There is no cure, and I hoped to make one in you. But there were barriers I could not break in my research. Desperate, I sought the aid of_ _ **Black Doom,**_ _a monstrous alien who wanted you to be his greatest weapon. He helped me create you… the ultimate lifeform… and give you his rare skills in chaos control. Little did Black Doom know that I would later change you to be a champion for Mobius against him and his_ _ **Black Arms.**_ _The Black Arms will return to Mobius in_ _ **fifty years**_ _._

The more I heard and saw, the more my head hurt, until it was too much.

 **Shadow** **:** _Aaaaaaarrrrrrrrgggghhh! AAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHH...!_

 **Nicole** **:** _Shadow?! What's wrong?! Are you hurt?! SHADOW?!_

I tried to calm down but the pain was too much. I felt an intense burning in my head combined with the feeling of my brain pressing against my skull as if it were trying to break out. I didn't know what to do. The only thing that I could think of was to try and **make** it stop. I tried my best to focus on the pain and used my chaos control.

 **Shadow** **:** _C-CHAOSSSSSS… C-CON-TR-TROL!_

I tried and tried, but the pain wouldn't die down. I took a step forward and tripped over a wire. I fell forward and landed on the ha- on Nicole. Whenever I would use chaos control to see my old memories from the old timeline I normally wouldn't see too much and my head would start to hurt after a while if I tried to see more, but this time was different. As I tried to pick myself up, everything started rushing back into my mind, replaying so vividly, it was as if it were before my very eyes.

It was like being hit by a train. Things that I didn't remember began to pour in the second my head hit Nicole, and though I could barely hear anything through my own screams of pain, I thought I heard Nicole scream too. I saw me, Rouge the Bat, and E-123 Omega… us, Team Dark, fighting against three other teams over a "Sol Emerald". I saw myself fighting Metal Sonic across three worlds. I saw myself meeting Omega for the first time. I saw myself meeting Rouge for the first time. I saw… me and Sonic in our super forms fighting side by side against the Bio-Lizard. I saw Princess Sally, Princess Blaze, Hope Kintobor, Commander Abraham Tower, I saw everyone. I saw every _thing_ that I had forgotten. I could… remember everything. But the one memory that brought me to my knees… was the memory of me… and Maria.

* * *

This is a combination from both Sonic Adventure 2 and Shadow the Hedgehog the games.

* * *

 **BANG**

 **Shadow (flashback)** **:** Maria!

 **Maria (flashback)** **:** _Shadow… please… do it for me… Give them all… a chance to be… happy… Shadow… please… I-I need your help… Everyone's fate depends on… you._

 **SHUNK -Click-**

 **Maria (flashback)** **:** _Sayonara… Shadow the Hedgehog._

 **SSSHHHHHOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMM**

 **Shadow (flashback)** **:** _MARIAAAAAAAAAAA!_

I still remember the pain that I felt at that moment. Not only did I forget my memories of… my family, but I forgot my **true** promise to Maria and broke it. Lien-da had told me that I had to fulfill my promise to Maria to bring peace to the world no matter what the cost. I knew that it would probably cost people their happiness, but I didn't care. All that I cared about was making sure that there **was** peace like Maria wanted, or I thought she wanted. I didn't care who I would have to fight, torture… or even kill. In fact, some of those things normally brought a smile to my face, but looking back now and then, I realize that there may have been peace, but there was no happiness. I was and still am ashamed by what I had deteriorated into. A sadistic, tyrannical monster. I had betrayed Maria and the Professor.

 **Shadow** **:** _I-I'm… sorry…._

 **Nicole** **:** _Shadow?_

 **Shadow** **:** _M-Maria… Pro-fessor… (sniff)… I… I failed you…. You trusted me… and I failed you…._

 **Nicole** **:** _Shadow, what happened?! Why are you cry-?!_

 **Shadow** **:** _I remember. (sniff)_

 **Nicole** **:** _What?!_

 **Shadow** **:** _I remember… everything…. Nicole… th-thank you…._

I'm unsure how much time I spent crying. It was **incredibly** unlike me. But what would _you_ do if _you_ found out that everything you accomplished in life, at the expense of others no less, was the wrong thing to do when all along you thought it was the right thing to do?

 **Nicole** **:** _I-I'm sorry. I wasn't expecting…_ that _to happen. You shouldn't have-_

 **Shadow** **:** _No, Nicole. I-I needed to see… all of it._

 **Nicole** **:** _Are you… alright?_

 **Shadow** **:** _… Am I alright…? I have hurt so many…. Even those who I regarded… as my friends… And you ask me if I'm… alright?! No, Nicole, I'm not!_

 **Nicole** **:** _I'm so sorry, Shadow._

 **Shadow** **:** _… No, Nicole. I am… I'm sorry… for yelling at you… and for… everything else…_

 **Nicole** **:** _… What will you do now?_

 **Shadow** **:** _… "What will I do?" … What_ can _I do? After everything I've done, after all of the lives I've ruined, what can_ I _do…? Nothing. I've failed._

 **Nicole** **:** _…Well, there is_ one _thing that you can do. You could try and make things right. That would be your best option._

 **Shadow** **:** _And how do you suppose I do that, an apology? The second anybody on the_ _ **planet**_ _sees me, they'll either runaway screaming, call the E.S.T. to arrest me, or_ _ **both**_ _. Even my Dark Presence have deserted me. No one will listen to me and no one will help me **get** them to listen to me._

 **Nicole** **:** _What about Sonic or maybe even Sally? Surely one of_ them _will help you?_

 **Shadow** **:** _The hero king who I originally kicked the crap out of, or my wife who I only married because of her title and connections, who also, may I inform you, probably hated me to begin with?! Are you kidding?! Did you_ not _hear my what I said when I explained what happened in my throne room?! There's NOTHING that I can do! NOTHING! I lost the second I listened to Lien-da! I've_ _ **failed**_ _, Nicole! I've failed my family, I've failed_ _ **MOBIUS**_ _, I'VE FAILED EVERYONE!_

I still remember hearing that last part of the sentence echo throughout the bunker.

 **Shadow** **:** _I've failed, Nicole. There is no point in continuing. The only thing I_ can _do now is turn myself over to the E.S.T. and allow the royal family to decide my fate. No one will help me. No one_ would _help me…_

 **Nicole** **:** _…_ I _would, and I_ _ **will**_ _._

 **Shadow** **:** _Wh-what?! You?! Why?! You don't even_ _ **know**_ _me! Even in the_ old _timeline, we were never friends. Why would_ _ **you**_ _... want to help_ me _?_

 **Nicole** **:** _I may not know you_ _ **personally**_ _, but I know enough to know that you are a hero._

 **Shadow** **:** _I_ was _a hero… in the old timeline. Not here. Here I'm only a tyrant and a monster._

 **Nicole** **:** _I know that we have only just met, but that is_ not _what I have learned from meeting you now. From what you have told me, you are merely a hero who has lost his way._

 **Shadow** **:** _I'm the tyrant who everyone in the world is afraid of because I ruined their lives. If I was a hero_ then _, then I'm a villain_ _ **now**_ _._

 **Nicole** **:** _When I was with Sally in the old timeline, I remember a saying we heard once. It goes, "You can either die a hero, or you can live long enough to see yourself become a villain."_

* * *

Quote from the Dark Knight Trilogy

I love those movies

[ CITATION Chr08 \l 1033 ]

* * *

 **Nicole** **:** _However, I_ now _see that if you_ _ **do**_ _in fact see yourself become a villain, then you can choose to either_ _ **stay**_ _that way and_ _ **die**_ _the villain you became, or you can make things right and become the hero once again. If you turn yourself in_ _ **now**_ _, then that means that you have chosen the former._

 **Shadow** **:** _In_ _ **this**_ _world, once your labeled_ as _the villain, then there's nothing you can do to change that. Even_ if _I were to try to make things right, these people would_ _ **never**_ _see me as a hero._ _ **Most**_ _of them only know of **this** timeline, so they only know **this** Shadow, and as for those who know of the _other _timeline, I stomped out any remaining hope they might have had that their_ _ **old**_ _Shadow would return. I'm sorry Nicole, but nothing can be done._

I had failed and I had given up. With no hope for me what so ever, I **knew** that what I said was true… until Nicole pointed something out to me.

 **Nicole** **:** _Actually, quite the contrary, Shadow._

 **Shadow** **:** _What are you talking about?_

 **Nicole** **:** _I believe that I have found a way to regain the people's trust in you as a hero._

 **Shadow** **:** Hmph _, I highly doubt that these people would_ _ **ever**_ _see the former_ _ **King**_ _Shadow as any sort of hero. Even if I_ were _to-"_

 **Nicole** **:** _But what if you_ _ **weren't**_ _King Shadow, or even Shadow at_ _ **all**_ _for that matter?_

 **Shadow** **:** _Huh? What are you saying?_

 **Nicole** **:** _You said that you had escaped Castle Mobius_ _ **undetected**_ _, correct?_

 **Shadow** **:** _Yes, but even_ if _they haven't discovered that I escaped, then it's only a matter of time now._

 **Nicole** **:** _Even so, I doubt that they would inform the populace. I'm quite sure they would rather have the citizens live out their happy lives completely oblivious while_ _ **they**_ _focused on finding you. So to the citizens of the planet, you're_ _ **still**_ _imprisoned._

I was starting to grow impatient once again.

 **Shadow** **:** _Where are you going with all of this?_

 **Nicole** **:** _By accessing some old data I had originally kept saved for… -ahem-_ _ **novelty**_ _purposes… I have recalled a time when Sonic was in a_ _ **similar**_ _position._ _He was unable to protect Mobius, so he had decided to continue his work "in disguise". He took on a super hero persona in order to continue fighting Dr. Robotnik without anyone ever discovering his_ _ **true**_ _identity. After 22 years, the only ones who ever_ knew _his secret identity were Espio, Sally, Miles, and myself._

 **Shadow** **:** _So you think I should just put on some ridiculous costume and play pretend like some sort of child? Not_ only _is this plan_ _ **ridiculous**_ _, but it's also_ _ **pointless**_ _. The world has reached true peace since my 5-year incarceration. The world has no need for heroes anymore._

 **Nicole** **:** _Shadow, you owe it to not only the people of the world, but also to yourself, and possibly even Maria, to at least_ _ **try**_ _to make things right. If you_ _ **truly**_ _feel that you must atone for your sins, I feel that_ _ **this**_ _may be the best way to do so. Rather than give in,_ _ **truly**_ _make it up to them._ _Don't you think **that's** what Maria would want?_

She was right and I knew it. I had to atone for my past transgressions somehow. It was either _this_ or face the consequences of my actions. But to put on a costume? To try and play superhero? Ugh, it felt mortifying. However, Maria _would_ probably want this if it meant that the people of the world would trust me as they did in the old timeline.

 **Shadow** **:** (Sigh) _… I'm not saying I'll go through with it, but if I were to… what did you have in mind?_

 **Nicole** **:** _As you said previously, the world has reached true peace. However, given my experiences with Sally, Sonic, and the other Freedom Fighters, it has come to my knowledge that no kingdom or otherwise is perfect. There is always danger in_ _ **some**_ _form. Whether it's with a tyra-_

She had stopped mid-sentence, but I knew **what** she was about to say.

 **Nicole** **:** (Ahem) _I mean, whether it's with abusive higher-ups, or small bank robberies, there is always_ _ **some**_ _form of issue. I'm not telling you to wait until the world is in danger again, but rather, protect the people **themselves**. For example; muggings, bank robberies, unsolved cases, etc., but rather than diving head first and attacking **directly** as you and Sonic are known for, your actions would be covert._

Whether it's **this** timeline or the old one, I've always hated being compared to that "Faker", but all of that aside, the crimes that Nicole mentioned, they were never an issue while _I_ ruled the world. Of course, that was mostly because all of the world's criminals were either rich enough, busy hiding for their lives, or rich enough _to_ hide for their lives well. Things might have changed with the easier going rulers in charge.

 **Shadow** **:** _I think I understand. You want me to become a vigilante and protect people from such emergencies, but even_ then _it still won't work._

 **Nicole** **:** _Why is that?_

 **Shadow** **:** _Even if I were to wear a disguise, my speed and chaos powers would be a dead giveaway. My chaos powers could be easily sensed by the former guardian or his daughter, the current guardian, and I can't perform these tasks without using chaos._

 **Nicole** **:** _As I recall, you have a_ highly _advanced intellect, and_ above _exceptional secret agent skills. I'm sure that **those** could aid you. And you would not need to use your **true** speed. Simply slow your pace down to that of a professional athletic runner, or even slightly higher._

 **Shadow** **:** _And what if I encounter an army of armed thugs? I'll need chaos to defend myself._

 **Nicole** **:** _Perhaps if we had the correct equipment, we could find a way to surpass such limitations._

 **Shadow** **:** _Equipment? You mean armor and weapons?_

 **Nicole** **:** _Yes, and perhaps a means to make it easier to move about the city without worry of detection. Perhaps you could find something around_ here _that could be of use._

After Nicole suggested using the materials around the bunker, I looked back. Looking around, I was reminded of my past choices.

 **Shadow** **:** _No… I don't want to use the same tools that started all this._

 **Nicole** **:** Hmmm _… then perhaps we could merely take a few necessities. Just some parts and minor equipment, because we'll need_ _ **something**_ _. I don't suppose you still have access to large quantities of money to pay for the rest?_

I started weighing my options. Either give up and turn myself in, or actually make something of myself that will make the people forgive me for what I've done. But could it really be done? Was it even worth the trouble? I started thinking of my old friends, wondering what _they_ would say if they were here now. The Commander would probably give some long speech about picking the right path. Omega would just talk about showering enemies with "fire and doom". Hope would probably tell me to follow my heart or something along those lines. Rouge would… _(sigh)_ She would just tell me to stop whining about it and pick one. Heh. My friends. They were always there for me, even when I didn't want them to be, but the fact that we never gave up on each other was what made each of us better and stronger. Then I remembered something. I looked around at my **new** past that littered every corner of the bunker. I had made my decision.

 **Nicole** **:** _Shadow?_

 **Shadow** **:** _Nicole, I have made I decision._

 **Nicole** **:** _… and?_

 **Shadow** **:** _I'll do it._

 **Nicole** **:** _Very well then, Shadow. I advise that we-_

 **Shadow** **:** _But… we'll do it my way, on_ _ **my**_ _terms. You may **still** make your own decisions and opinions. For instance, if you should choose to abandon me at any time, I will not stop you. But for now I… I… _(sigh) _I need your help._

 **Nicole** **:** _… Very well. I will assist you by any means necessary, as I did for Queen Sally._

 **Shadow** **:** _That's another thing. You_ do _realize that by agreeing to help me, that means you-_

 **Nicole** **:** _Will be unable to see them again for a long while. Possibly even… ever again… I know, and I agree to the terms._

She was going to help me, despite the cost. Now I see why Queen Sally had such high regard for her as a teammate and as a friend.

 **Shadow** **:** _Alright, then let's get started._

Nicole was right, I needed to acquire _some_ equipment, but most of it was for different purposes. After reconnecting the computer to the world wide web, I had Nicole download as much information about the new timeline as possible while _I_ got everything ready. Once I had gathered all necessary equipment and set… everything _else_ , I returned to retrieve Nicole… _(sigh)_ I wasn't prepared to see what she was looking up.

I had walked into the room but froze for a moment after seeing the computer screen… It was the picture… of Sally and me… on our wedding day. Both of our faces reflected how much that day meant to us… Nothing. _My_ face looking back at my own, held a look of grief and regret, which I didn't let Nicole see.

 **Shadow** **:** _… Nicole._

 **Nicole** **:** _?!... Oh! Shadow, I… I'm sorry. I didn't mean…_

I stopped her mid-sentence with a raise of my hand, and walked over to the computer. I lifted up Nicole.

 **Shadow** **:** _Did you download enough information about this timeline?_

 **Nicole** **:** _… Yes._

 **Shadow** **:** _Good. Then we can leave._

I disconnected Nicole from the computer but the image stayed as if it were a painful reminder. Not needing to be reminded of anything, I threw my fist at the glass screen, mostly aiming at the image of myself, so that it shattered into a million pieces that littered the bunker floor around me. After that little… episode, I turned to leave and started making my way to the bunker's entrance.

 **Nicole** **:** _With how long you took, I had expected you to come back with more equipment._

 **Shadow** **:** _The delay was with good reason. The… **king** might not be too happy about it, but I feel that I need to do this._

It pained me a little, referring to _him_ as "king". I then closed Nicole and placed her in the bag with the equipment I had acquired. That's when I remembered what was still on my left shoulder and sitting on my head. My royal regalia. I felt the gold clasp on my left shoulder with my right hand and was instantly reminded of how I had conquered the planet, then I held onto it and threw if off to my right, along with my cape that was connected to it. Without even turning my head, I heard the sound of metal bouncing on the ground.

I then felt the crown that sat atop my head and was reminded how I treated the world, stripping the people of their money and their happiness. I then took it off and held it in front of my face, staring at the hedgehog in the reflective golden surface. At first, I saw myself, then I saw a dark monstrous creature with sinister yellow eyes, and a razor toothed sadistic smile who started to maniacally laugh at me.

Out of frustration, and as a means to shut him up, I crushed him along with the crown in my hand, reducing it to a dented piece of gold that I threw at the wall to my left with so much force without even turning my body. It impaled the wall upon impact, and became permanently stuck there... At least it _would_ have been if not for what I had planned for the bunker. As I approached the door, I had removed a remote detonator from the bag of equipment that clung to my side, and hit the button. I heard the first explosion go-off somewhere in the bunker, soon followed by others. The explosive charges that I had set seemed to still work despite being locked away for five years.

I didn't want any reminders of the monster that was King Shadow or his Dark Presence. As I reached the door, the explosions were about to catch up to me. I used chaos control to get out the same way I had come in, then continued walking, occasionally using chaos control to get farther and farther away. Once I finally reached a safe enough distance, I turned around and opened up Nicole just in time to see the entire bunker go up in flames in one grand explosion. We stood there and stared at the destruction.

Far off in the distance I saw what appeared to be a black flag with my insignia on it. I remembered how that flag use to be a symbol of how I took over the world. People swearing their allegiance to me by it. I watched as the flames climbed up the flag pole and they soon reached the flag. Watching the black and red go up in smoke actually brought a smile to my face, because I knew that this meant new beginnings. King Shadow was dead and Shadow the Hedgehog, protector of the planet, its people, and their happiness, had returned.

 **Nicole** **:** _We should go._

 **Shadow** **:** _Yes, we have work to do._

I closed Nicole and began my trip back to Angel Island, but not before looking back one final time. As I did so, I could have sworn I saw the flames take the forms of Maria and the Professor, smiling at me. I smiled back and nodded.

 **Shadow** **:** _I promise you,_ _ **both**_ _of you, that I will make things right again._

From there things would only get **far** more difficult, but all for the best.

Shadow was awoken from his train of thought when he and Sasha had approached a rocky wall.

 **Sasha** **:** Sasha. Voice command: Scan and open.

At the top of the wall, a lone rock moved up to reveal some kind of lens. From the lens a blue light shown down on Sasha and Shadow. Once the light had finish scanning them, the rock moved back into place. And a female voice was heard.

 **?** **:** Scan complete. Recognized: The Sneak and Sasha the Cat. Warning! Severe injuries found!

Shadow groaned loud enough for Sasha to hear his displeasure perfectly. The rocky wall then moved to the side to reveal an even _more_ vast opening. It was filled with computers and charts, as well as specific areas, each for a specific purpose. There were also other tunnels that lead all around the island. Most were caved in but others were either open or their openings were covered in striped tape. The chirping of regular wild bats could be heard overhead. Sasha and Shadow had entered the Sneak Cave (or at least, the **new** Sneak Cave).

From out of nowhere, a female lynx materialized in front of them. She had green eyes and black hair on her head that was cut short in the back but in the front almost went over her right eye. She was wearing a sleeveless purple, white, and black dress, black pants, black and white gloves with purple cuffs, and black and white shoes. On her dress, just below the neck, and on the ankles of her shoes and the cuffs of her gloves, there was some kind of gold ring design.

 **Sasha** **:** He was at it again, Nicole.

 **Nicole** **:** I know. I was figuratively there. You just _had_ to run head first into that wall of bullets, didn't you?

She spoke with the same voice as the voice from the wall.

 **Sasha** **:** WALL OF BULLETS?! ARE YOU _TRYING_ TO GET YOURSELF KILLED?!

 **Shadow** **:** Are _you_ trying to let **everyone** in Portal know we're down here? AUGH!

Sasha had hit Shadow in the side for his remark.

 **Sasha** **:** _Don't_ give me **that**!

Sasha turned to Nicole.

 **Sasha** **:** Just fix him!

 **Nicole** **:** I was already planning on it.

Nicole made a come hither motion with her hand to a nearby corner. From around the corner, a gurney moved all on its own and stopped in front of Sasha and Shadow. The black cat picked up Shadow and placed him on the gurney.

 **Shadow** **:** Augh!

 **Sasha** **:** Well that's what you get. _(sigh)_ I wish you wouldn't take such extreme chances. It'll be the death of you. And my worry will be the death of **me**.

The gurney started to move back to around the corner with Shadow on it and Sasha and Nicole following from the sides of the gurney. Sasha walked while Nicole appeared to be floating.

 **Shadow** **:** But I-

 **Sasha** **:** And **don't** give me that (imitates Shadow (quite well)) "But I'm the ultimate lifeform. Blah blah blah" crap, because I'm **sick** and **tired** of it!

Shadow merely grunted as the gurney took him to, what had appeared to be the infirmary while the girls followed from the side.


	3. Chapter 3

… **The Darkness Rises...**

 **Location: The (New) Cave**

 **Time: 3:49 A.M.**

Shadow was inside some kind of pod that was filled with some kind of green liquid. His suit had been removed and there were glowing cords connected to his wrists. Nicole and Sasha were at some monitors, checking Shadow's vitals.

 **Sasha** **:** _(Sigh)_ I hate seeing him like that. Sometimes, I think he's just as reckless as Sonic!

 **Nicole** **:** I know, but in his defense, given the circumstances, it was either this or accept being knighted.

 **Sasha** **:** Wha- knighted?! Why would he run away from that?! Isn't that _what_ he's been going for this whole time?!

 **Nicole** **:** "What he's been going for" is earning back the people's trust in him.

 **Sasha** **:** But he **has** … hasn't he? I… I just don't see why he doesn't stop now.

 **Nicole** **:** To us, he has succeeded. But to himself, he still has much to do before revealing himself to the public. _If_ he still plans to.

Nicole looked at Sasha and saw the look on her face and her tail. Sasha's tail was low but moving at a steady pace while her face held concern.

 **Nicole** **:** I know you're worried for him, but he'll be fine. He _is_ the only one in the world to fully defeat Sonic in his younger years after all. At least in the old timeline. And he has been through much in _this_ timeline as well.

Nicole turned her attention back to monitors, watching the digital charts and monitors blink and beep.

 **Nicole (narrating)** **:** My name is Nicole the Holo-lynx. In a past life, I was merely Nicole, the advanced Artificial Intelligence. After I began to understand emotion I crafted this hologram form. Later on, I truly became a Freedom Fighter, but more importantly, I began to feel as though I were truly alive.

Unfortunately, ever since the shift in the timeline, brought upon by Sonic, my life has changed drastically. Apparently, all of my core data was erased leaving behind my handheld as a figurative corpse. But then, I was revived from the old timeline. This was caused by Shadow the Hedgehog and his power of chaos control. After he too regained memories of his lost life did the two of us agree to work together to repair what he had broken.

As Nicole and Sasha watched and waited for Shadow to finish with his recovery, Nicole began to recollect her time with Shadow up to this moment.

 **Nicole (narrating)** **:** After leaving the White Acropolis we made our way to the world capital, the city of Portal. After about a day, we decided to rest in a small town that we were passing through, but we had to remain cautious and discrete. Just as I had presumed, the world was unaware of Shadow's freedom seeing as how there was no news of his escape.

We remained there, Shadow being in disguise, for almost three days. I had suggested in using the time to plan our return to the city without being discovered. It wasn't long after finding a suitable place the hide out, that I found out what Shadow had done when planting those explosives back at the White Acropolis. It wasn't **just** a means to rid him of the many reminders of his past deeds. It was also a message.

Earlier I found a way to connect to the web wirelessly. I later on discovered that the authorities and media found Shadow's "message" and revealed what it was.

 **News Reporter** **:** _This is live E.S.T. footage from the White Acropolis. It would appear that someone has blown up one of the bunkers here. For years, this place has long since been nothing more than a relic from the Robotnik wars._

It seemed that King Sonic and Queen Sally had chosen to keep the deactivated facility's **true** current purpose a secret from the populace.

 **News Reporter** **:** _Oh, wait a minute. It would seem as though… There seems to be some sort of lettering in the flames. The E.S.T. seem to be trying to get a better view of the lettering. Oh, hold on…_

As the camera view backed up more into the sky, more of the message had become clear. From the air I could see the lettering in the burning debris that spelled out "GOODBYE FOREVER".

It now made sense to me why Shadow took so long to return. I figured it was because he wanted to make sure that the bunkers destruction was thorough when in reality he wanted to send a message. After leaving the town, I refused to inform him that I had seen it.

It had come to our attention that what we had wasn't enough. The equipment we took _would_ allow us to move throughout the city without being detected, but it wouldn't be enough to protect Shadow. If anything, it would make him more vulnerable. In order for our plan to succeed, he would need armor, weapons, and a better disguise than what he used in the previous town, which was merely a worn cloak with a bandana around his mouth. We needed something more, and we needed some _one_ with the tools and the resources to help us build it.

 **Shadow** **:** _This will never work. There's no one in the entire world with_ _ **that**_ _kind of equipment who would be willing to help us. This is pointless._

 **Nicole** **:** _Surely there must be_ someone _. Perhaps an old Dark Presence sympathizer?_

 **Shadow** **:** _No, everyone who was associated with the Dark Presence had renounced their loyalty to me. There is no one… well, maybe there is_ one _, but she would never help me. Not_ now _at least._

 **Nicole** **:** _What do you mean?_

 **Shadow** **:** _She was… once one of the greatest minds who worked under me, and one of my closest friends in the old timeline. She's brilliant, but… I discovered that she was conspiring against me._

 **Nicole** **:** _But if there is_ truly _no one else, then I'm afraid that we have no other option._

I could tell that Shadow knew I was right, and so he agreed. Before returning to Portal, we made a short detour to Central City, and Empire Labs, the former G.U.N. base turned research facility. When Shadow was still king, he used his Dark Presence to crush any other forces who stood against him. G.U.N. was one of these forces. Once this was accomplished, all G.U.N. stations were turned into research facilities used to supply his forces with more advanced weaponry and supply the world with better technology.

In Empire Labs, there was no greater mind than that of Dr. Hope Kintobor, the half-niece of Dr. Eggman. Because of her advanced intellect, she was appointed "Head of Research and Development". At the same time, she had been secretly conspiring against King Shadow. After Sonic returned and reclaimed the throne, she was left with only **one** way to contribute; by building the chaos stasis pod. The machine designed to keep Shadow frozen in time.

In the old timeline, Hope had lost her family to her half-uncle and half-brother, via robotization. She was later taken in by my friends in Knothole. That was before Dr. Eggman's fleets burned it to the ground. Snively Robotnik, Dr. Eggman's nephew, and Hope's half-brother, convinced her to leave Knothole before the invasion. 15 years later, she returned, and told us why she hadn't sooner. She blamed herself for leaving Knothole defenseless and had decided to live with and work for G.U.N. There too, did she rise to the highest ranks of her position.

We had arrived outside of her office and snuck inside the building. She had left for the moment, so we waited for her to return. After about an hour, she returned to her office. We stayed hidden in the shadows until she came back. Then we approached her from behind, thinking we had the element of surprise, but then…

 **Hope** **:** _I've been wondering when you'd show up…_

… _she_ surprised _us_. We were taken slightly off guard to find out that she knew of our presence.

 **Shadow** **:** _You_ _ **knew**_ _we were here._

 **Hope** **:** _After I joined G.U.N. I picked up a few self-defense techniques. One of them was "being wary of your surroundings"._

 **Shadow** **:** _In_ this _timeline?_

 **Hope** **:** _And the old. It's been a while, hasn't it? I haven't seen your face around here since… well, since you turned it into a research laboratory and put_ me _in charge._

 **Shadow** **:** _You sound as though you were expecting us._

 **Hope** **:** _Perhaps I was? At least, I was expecting_ you _. Who's your friend?_

 **Shadow** **:** _I believe you two have already been acquainted, haven't you?_

 **Nicole** **:** _It's nice to see you again, Hope._

From behind her, I could tell she was surprised to hear my voice from the way she almost jumped. As she turned around I could see that she was still the same as the last time I had seen her. She was _still_ different compared to how she looked when she left Knothole as a child, but she appeared to the same as when she came back.

She had long blonde hair that reached the middle of her back, some of it rested on her shoulders. She wore small rectangular glasses in front of her blue eyes, a red sweater under a white lab coat, a black skirt that reached down below her knees, transparent tights, and black shoes. She also held a clipboard with various notes and sheets of data attached to it.

She looked directly at me, and soon her surprise turned into immense joy. She almost ran toward Shadow when she came and took me out of his hands.

 **Hope** **:** _NICOLE! I—I can't believe your back! H-how is this possible?!_

 **Nicole** **:** _Shadow used his chaos powers to revive me. Though my handheld is still damaged, I have full use of all functions as I did in the past._

Hope turned to Shadow curiously.

 **Hope** **:** _You…? Your fixed her?_

Shadow's only response was a nod. Hope kept a look of disbelief as she looked at Shadow. It soon transformed into a genuine smile.

 **Hope** **:** _Thank you._

Shadow quickly turned his head away from her but I could still see slight blush as a response to her gesture. However, as Hope turned to set me down on the corner of her desk, her smile had disappeared. She then moved to the opposite corner of her desk and leaned against it, turning back to Shadow with her arms crossed. Shadow soon turned to face her as well.

 **Hope** **:** _Alright, you have my attention. So tell me why you came here._

Both Shadow and Hope wore serious looks. Shadow was hesitant to answer but he soon relented.

 **Shadow** **:** _… We have come to ask for your help._

 **Hope** **:** _Well there's a surprise. The "Ultimate Lifeform" asking for help. After I saw your… "little display" at the White Acropolis I never would have guessed. And yeah, I knew that was you. "Goodbye Forever", now who does_ that _sound like? I knew in that instant that it could only have been you._

 _I also heard about a certain half spirit/half god causing mass chaos over at the world capital. Figured that was your handy work. After all, other than the guardian, you're the only one capable of supplying her with that much power without a chaos emerald. Add that to the fact that your chaos stasis pod and her containment bubble were on the same level in the castle catacombs. It wasn't hard to put two and two together._

 **Shadow** **:** _So you knew that I escaped from the very beginning. But that only begs the question, why haven't you pressed that button on your desk right next to where your hand rests?_

 **Hope** **:** _Maybe I just want to know what kind of help you expect me to give you before I call security… Well? Shoot._

Shadow took a deep breath before speaking.

 **Shadow** **:** _First, you should know that I am not the same Shadow you know._

 **Hope** **:** _I had a feeling of that when I saw you blow up your only supply of weaponry. So, how much of the old timeline do you remember now?_

Shadow stopped speaking when she asked that question and we both listened as she continued to speak.

 **Hope** **:** _Rouge, Omega, the commander… me? Perhaps when Enerjak attacked New Mobotropolis? Or maybe when I sent you and the rest of Team Dark to the Special Zone…?_

Hopes eyes grew more serious with each point in the history from the old timeline, and we both became more surprised by how much of she knew.

 **Hope** **:** _Or maybe you remember all of those personal talks that you and I shared?_

I looked over to Shadow and noticed his eyes soften and his head turn downward. I turned my attention back to Hope.

 **Nicole** **:** _Hope, you remember the old timeline?_

 **Hope** **:** Some _people in the world still have_ some _memories from the old timeline, but_ I _remember everything._

Shadow's head turned up and he faced Hope but his face was still soft.

 **Shadow** **:** _How…? How can you-?"_

 **Hope** **:** _When Knuckles called on King Sonic to go back and fix the timeline before everything was destroyed, Rotor called_ _ **me**_ _along with Miles and informed us of what they were planning. He told us of the precautionary measures he was taking and that we should do the same._

Hope then grabbed her right arm sleeve and pulled it up to reveal a time-space armband.

 **Hope** **:** _I took the necessary precautions but I also knew that I had to protect my friends from the potential time-shift as well._

Her face softened a bit as she spoke.

 **Hope** **:** _I created two more armbands and added the same technology to Omega to protect him. I gave one armband to Rouge, but I was too late to give you yours. As everything faded to white, I last saw you using chaos control one final time. I had hoped that would be enough…_

Hope's face soon regained the level of seriousness that it once held.

 **Hope** **:** (sigh) _but here we are. So, you were saying something about "asking me for help"?_

 **Shadow** **:** _Now I understand. Why you act so indifferent towards me._

 **Hope** **:** _You'd probably be indifferent too if_ your _best friend turned into a cold hearted ruler of the world in a matter of seconds._

Shadow took another deep breath and his sorrowful look had disappeared.

 **Shadow** **:** (sigh) _Hope, you have every right to feel the way that you do about me. I have forgotten my promises, I have forgotten my purpose, but I have every intention to make everything right. No matter how long it takes, I_ _ **will**_ _make everything right._

There was a moment of silence between them before Hope spoke again as she made her way to behind her desk while keeping her eyes on Shadow.

 **Hope** **:** _You want know something, Shadow? I should've stopped believing in those promises of yours a long time ago._

She then placed her finger above a button on a small metal box with a microphone and several other buttons on it. I identified the device as an intercom. Probably to make announcements to the rest of the facility.

 **Hope** **:** _It would have made things so much simpler._

She pressed the button and there was the faint ringing sound that only lasted for a second. Then she spoke into the microphone.

 **Hope (via intercom)** **:** _Attention. All staff, please vacate the premises. Again, all staff, please vacate the premises. Please go home, take the rest of today and tomorrow off. And anyone found left in the building, I will personally dock their pay. Thank you and goodnight._

Once she was finished speaking, she removed her finger from the intercom. It was… in a word, odd, to see Hope like this. To see the cheerful little girl who always seemed so happy. Only ever brought down when reminded of her family or of who she was related to, but seemed to regain her smile when reminded of who her friends are. The little girl who always had a knack for machines. Even when she came back a fully grown woman in the old timeline, she seemed the same. To see her become a woman who seemed so cold. So distant. It was like she was a completely different person.

 **Hope** **:** _Now, I'm assuming that what you need is weapons? Oh, and don't worry. The people working here do literally everything I say. It helps that I never ask for too much, though telling security to leave_ is _a_ _ **bit**_ _much. Still, there shouldn't be anyone left in the building._

 **Shadow** **:** _So that's it. You're just going to supply us with weaponry right off the bat?_

 **Hope** **:** _I might,_ _ **if**_ _you tell me_ **why** _you need them._

 **Nicole** **:** _Shadow wishes to regain the peoples' trust as he did in the old timeline, but if he wishes to do so, he must first find a means to move about the capital without being noticed or at least recognized._

 **Hope** **:** _Oh, I see. Since most people only see Shadow as tyrant and are afraid of him now, you plan to fix that but first you need me to help "supply" you._

 **Nicole** **:** _Yes, but he will need more than just weapons. He also requires, armor for protection._

 **Hope** **:** _The "Ultimate Lifeform" needs protection? The "immortal" man who has super strength, speed, agility, knows several forms of martial arts, is a master of firearms, and has_ _ **chaos powers**_ _that he uses to destroy everything in his path, and make his skin_ _ **bulletproof**_ _… needs armor._

 **Shadow** **:** _My power over chaos also makes me prone to detection. I remember that Knuckles possesses the ability to sense chaos and after the battle between me and his daughter, I have no doubt that she may possess this ability as well seeing as how she has a much stronger connection to the chaos force. We already have the appropriate equipment for creating a means to prevent that but the only known way to do so is to…_

 **Hope** **:** _Inhibit your chaos powers further. So_ that's _it. Hmmm…_

She looked off to the side with her hand upon her chin. She appeared to be in thought. She hadn't said anything for almost a minute.

 **Hope** **:** _Follow me._

As she made her way around her desk and to the door of her office, Shadow walked over to retrieve me before following her. She led us out of her office and down the hall. Along the way, we took notice of all of the empty rooms. There weren't even any security guards. It was as if the building had been abandoned.

 **Shadow** **:** _Everyone is gone._

 **Hope** **:** _I told you. Everyone here does anything I tell them to, and since I told them all to leave, they left._

At the end of the hall there was an elevator with a keypad terminal in the wall next to it that appeared to have a MeteorTech logo at the bottom. Hope then produced a keycard from her lab coat which she then placed into a slot at the side of the terminal. There was beeping sound followed by a green light flashing on the terminal. Half of a second later, the elevator doors opened and we entered.

After the doors were closed Hope pressed the basement level button. As the elevator started to move Hope broke the silence once again.

 **Hope** **:** _I usually just go down on my own when no one is in the basement but it's so much easier when there is no one in the whole building._

 **Shadow** **:** _Where are we going, Hope?_

 **Hope** **:** _You said you needed supplies. I'm showing you what I have._

After another few minutes of silence, we had arrived at the basement level. After exiting the elevator and looking around, all we could see was… junk. Nothing but discarded scrap metal and unwanted materials.

 **Shadow** **:** _What's going on, Hope? There doesn't appear to be anything here._

 **Hope** **:** _Of course not, this is just where we store extra supplies and irrelevant, or obsolete, materials. There isn't_ _ **supposed**_ _to be anything else down here._

I was about to question the purpose of bringing us down there, before she continued speaking.

 **Hope** **:** _But that doesn't mean that there isn't._

While I, and Shadow as well I'm sure, thought over the true meaning of her statement, she continued walking. We soon followed.

 **Hope** **:** _Sometimes, I have ideas that I don't feel comfortable sharing with others. So, for a long while, I just kept them in a special journal. Then, after King Sonic took the throne, while I was searching through some of the extra supplies at the far end of the basement, I came across something very interesting._

We approached a wall. There didn't appear to be anything out of the ordinary about it… that is until Hope did something. At first, she appeared to be searching for something on the barren wall. The she stopped at a worn line on it, as if someone dragged their finger on it several times in the past. After tracing the line with her own finger, it started to slowly flash green.

Then there was a faint rumbling sound coming from the wall. So faint that it only seemed audible to those close enough to the wall. The wall then began to move upward, revealing to be a large hidden door. Once it was high enough, Shadow and I were greeted with what was hidden behind it.

It was a very clean, and very well organized room. The room had shelves upon shelves of neatly placed boxes, as well as many cabinets, and a few tables here and there. Hope entered the secret room and we followed. As we looked around, Hope explained what this place was.

 **Hope** **:** _This is all that's left of G.U.N., that I know of, of course. When you had this place renovated into a research facility your Dark Presence completely overlooked this room. When I found it I found a chance to build my secret projects to my heart's content. Here, all of my ideas became reality without worry of others' objection. It's spread out farther than the perimeter of the building's base._

 **Shadow** **:** _To think that this entire room was completely overlooked._

 **Nicole** **:** _Hope, what kind of projects were you working on that you didn't want anyone else to know about?_

 **Hope** **:** _Weapons, Nicole. I was working on weapons._

Both Shadow and I were once again taken by surprise by what she said.

 **Hope** **:** _I know. Even during the Five Years of Peace, I still continued to build these weapons. Perfecting them more and more. Even after going through my entire idea journal I still had more. More ideas just kept coming to me, just demanding to be built. So I always had a reason to comeback._

She smiled while speaking. I knew that inventing new machines had always been a passion of hers, but… for as long as I had known Hope, I never would have guessed that she would ever find such an interest in building… weapons.

 **Hope** **:** _In both timelines, while I worked for G.U.N., though I was good with building other things, I_ did _enjoy building new weapons for the G.U.N. soldiers to use in battle… Especially for Team Dark. I guess you can take the girl out of the_ **(saying initials)** _G.U.N. but you can't take the G.U.N. out of the girl._

After a few more minutes we stopped next to a table and a few cabinets.

 **Hope** **:** _But I didn't_ _ **just**_ _build weapons, I also built other special equipment. I once even tried presenting them to the E.S.T. or other authorities. I thought they could make their jobs easier. They turned them down of course. Said that it was all too much and too expensive. So now it all just sits here collecting dust._

Hope opened the top drawer of a nearby cabinet and looked inside. She then pulled out the whole drawer and carried it to the table. Shadow and I approached to look at the equipment ourselves. Inside we could see several pieces of equipment. One by one she started presenting it to us.

She placed her hand over some small gun shaped device.

 **Hope** **:** _This is a specially designed, pressurized grapnel gun. When fired, this little device can be used to reach the top of… say, the top of the castle's outer wall in a second, and the retractable line is strong enough pull an elephant to the top in less than three seconds without making a sound. It can grapple onto ledges_ or _lines. Of course,_ that's _only useful if you know how to tightrope walk. Though, the grapnel grapples_ _ **best**_ _onto large structures built onto walls, like gargoyles or things like that. I'm currently working on an accelerator_ for _the grapnel. Unfortunately, in all of my simulations, once you reach the top… you don't stop. Currently, it throws whoever uses it into the air. I'm still working on that upgrade._

She then placed her hand over _another_ gun shaped device that greatly resembled the first one. Next to it was some sort metal claw.

 **Hope** **:** _This is equipped with a solid titanium claw that, when fired, can latch onto almost anything. The metal line is nearly unbreakable._

Finally, she placed her hand over a long black belt.

 **Hope** **:** _And this is a state-of-the-art utility belt. If it's small enough, this belt can hold onto it._

After she finished she turned back to us.

 **Hope** **:** _This is just some stuff I thought you might be interested in. What do you think?_

 **Nicole** **:** _Most impressive._

Shadow didn't say anything. He just closed his eyes and nodded.

 **Hope** **:** _Now, I believe you mentioned something about needing armor? Let's see… oh right._

Hope walked over to another cabinet and pulled open the bottom drawer. After looking inside she pulled it out completely and brought it over to the table where she placed it next to the first drawer. Inside, there appeared to be some sort of suit. From what I could analyze by merely looking at it, it appeared to be something similar to a modern bullet proof vest, only it seemed to allow the wearer to move more comfortably in it.

 **Hope** **:** _This armor was designed to allow the wearer to move more comfortably. Flame retardant, corrosion resistant, insulated, water proof…_

 **Shadow** **:** _Reinforced?_

 **Hope** **:** _It'll take helicopter propeller to cut through that… (or someone whose really strong and good with swords)._

 **Shadow** **:** _What about firearms?_

 **Hope** **:** _Bulletproof, but you should know, although this armor is strong, it's doesn't make you invincible. You take enough hits, it_ _ **will**_ _hurt you, and I can't guaranty your safety after that._

 **Shadow** **:** _… I completely understand._

 **Hope** **:** _Okay then. Now about the weapons._

 **Shadow** **:** _Hold on. Nothing lethal._

Hope gave us a questioning look.

 **Shadow** **:** _I've take enough lives already. I refuse to take anymore. I only seek to fight injustice so that I can regain the people's trust. I refuse to kill._

Hope just stood there for a moment looking at us before turning to a different direction and walking off.

 **Hope** **:** _This way._

We walked for another few minutes before stopping next to another cabinet. Hope opened up the bottom middle drawer and Shadow and I looked inside.

 **Hope** **:** _Although I've made plenty of lethal weapons, I've also made a few_ non _-lethal ones. This is where I put a few of them. Plus, some other environmental gadgets that the authorities weren't interested in. Let me show you._

She placed her hand on what looked like some sort of sprayer.

 **Hope** **:** _This sprayer is used to dispense explosive gel. Each canister has enough gel to blow open three weakened walls._

 **Shadow** **:** _What if a person is on the other side of the wall?_

 **Hope** **:** _They could_ _ **step**_ _on the gel and have it blow up beneath their feet and the worst that could happen is they'd get blown into the air and back to the ground hard. They'd have to be weak as a child for it to_ _ **severely**_ _hurt them._

She moved her hand over to one of three small but long tubes with a button at the top of each of them.

 **Hope** **:** _Smoke pellets. These should prove useful for quick escapes. Their range is limited to about three feet in diameter, but that should be enough for you._

She then placed her hand over something small and circular.

 **Hope** **:** _These are specially designed, aerodynamic, hand thrown projectiles. I've also been working on other versions that_ could _prove useful in the field._

Shadow looked at Hope before taking one. After inspecting it, two dull blades came out of slit openings in the sides. He held it by one of the blades and continued looking it over.

 **Hope** **:** _Their design is similar to ninja throwing stars, only the blades are dulled so to not penetrate the skin but can_ still _do the same amount of harm as the explosive gel. Though it_ may _take more than one hit at times._

I watched as Shadow turned and readied a projectile. He threw it and it flew across the room and hit an old red propeller on a shelf on the far side of the room.

 **Shadow** **:** Hmph.

From his reaction, I concluded that the propeller was his initial target, proving that the projectiles operated successfully. Next, Hope placed her hand over a small, thin device. She then picked it up, opened it, and explained its function.

 **Hope** **:** _This is a cryptographic sequencer. It can hack radio frequencies, and if necessary, electronic locks, but you'll need the access codes necessary for_ that _function to work._

At first, Shadow seemed content, but then his look changed to one of thought.

 **Shadow** **:** _Hmmm…_

 **Nicole** **:** _Shadow?_

He didn't respond at first, he merely stayed in thought. He stood there for about two seconds before speaking.

 **Shadow** **:** _As strong as I am without using chaos, I may still need assistance in the field. In the old timeline, I still had Rouge and Omega, and the rest of the G.U.N. soldiers to watch my back. Here, I'm alone. I may need some way to have—_

 **Hope** **:** _Eyes on the back of your head? I think I may have something._

Hope walked over to another cabinet, not too far away, and opened the second drawer from the top. She pulled out a black helmet. At first, I was unsure what to make of the design, until Shadow, with a stunned expression, revealed to be **very** familiar with it.

 **Shadow** **:** _Hope, is that…?!_

 **Hope** **:** _Don't forget Shadow, this facility was tasked with supplying your armies with stronger arms and equipment. It wasn't too hard to acquire a Dark Presence helmet and mask. I just improved on the design and added a few new features. For example; environment analyzing eyewear. Environment analysis means that you'll be able see a_ _ **lot**_ _more than the what others can. It can be used to scan D.N.A. samples just by looking at them, or see people hiding behind ten walls from twenty feet away. It's also equipped with a special alarm system programmed to warn you if you're about to be hit. Try it on. Trust me, it works._

Shadow handed me to Hope and placed the helmet on his head.

 **Shadow** **:** _How do I activate the environment analysis?_

 **Hope** **:** _There's an arm control panel in the drawer._

Shadow walked over to the draw and pulled out a black gauntlet. As he looked it over, Hope started walking silently toward one of the shelves. She placed me onto a shelf and reached for something on the self above me. I couldn't see what she was doing. However, from the shelf that I was sitting on, I _could_ see Shadow looking around the room. I could only assume that the environment analysis had been activated.

He never once looked back at us as he surveyed the room. Not even when Hope pulled down something large and made of metal. She then carefully and quietly walked behind Shadow with the large object resting over her shoulder. Out of worry, I was about to inform Shadow until Hope turned to me, and signaled me to remain silent.

I wanted to trust her, but that didn't stop me from worrying about Shadow's wellbeing. From behind Shadow, she took the piece of metal in both hands and raised it behind her head like a baseball bat. She took aim for Shadow's head and swung. Just as I was about to shout out to him.

 _ **BAP**_

He grabbed a hold of it at arm's length. Once Shadow turned to face Hope, Hope smirked at him.

 **Hope** **:** _Told you it works. Though, I may have to redesign it for you. You'll also want to cover your eyes and spines. They'll just give you away._

After Shadow removed the helmet and Hope came back to retrieve me, Shadow asked another question.

 **Shadow** **:** _What about if I need to escape from high buildings. Without chaos, I wouldn't survive a fall from that height. And my rocket shoes are also too much of a giveaway._

 **Nicole** **:** _Are you suggesting a parachute?_

 **Shadow** **:** _Too slow._

 **Hope** **:** _How about a glider?_

 **Shadow** **:** _That_ would _work, but even a compact glider would only be usable once._

 **Hope** **:** _What if you could wear the glider and use it as many times as you wanted?_

 **Shadow** **:** _Let me guess, you have something._

She nodded and walked off into another direction and we followed. After a minute, she led us to a table. On it was a large piece of black fabric and two black gloves.

 **Hope** **:** _We call this memory cloth. It's a specially designed lightweight fabric that was developed for the Dark Presence to use for airdropping supplies on the battlefields. I held on to some, thinking I could eventually find a use for it. Never imagined it would be for you to use._

As Shadow inspected the memory cloth, Hope took a black glove and put it on.

 **Shadow** **:** _Does it work?_

 **Hope** **:** _Once the memory cloth was deployed, the crates they carried were designed to send a small electric charge to the cloth. I created these gloves to generate the same charge. Once a current is sent through the memory cloth…_

Hope placed her gloved hand onto the memory cloth and suddenly it took the form of part of a parachute.

 **Hope** **:** _Unlike regular parachutes, if the memory cloth rips slightly or tears, it's still usable. As long as the current can reach the rest of the fabric, the cargo won't fall._

 **Shadow** **:** _How strong is it?_

 **Hope** **:** _Hmmm… cloth for someone about_ your _size should be able to hold about… mm… say, ten Eggmen._

 **Nicole and Shadow** **:** _Wow!_

 **Hope** **:** _This cloth was designed to be naturally strong. With this, you should have no worry of falling. So, is that all, or are there other issues you think we should work out?_

 **Shadow** **:** _… There…_ are _other issues, but… we can work them out another time. For now, this should be enough._

 **Nicole** **:** _Yes, but we should still work on the designs to better suit Shadow._

 **Hope** **:** _I've already got a pretty good idea. But… you two may have to stay here until everything is ready. I can't exactly let you two go and risk being spotted. There's also the issue of testing._

 **Shadow** **:** _Testing?_

 **Hope** **:** _I'm a builder, Shadow, not a soldier. Most of the equipment here has never been tested. You also will have to stay here to test the equipment to make sure it works._

 **Shadow** **:** _I understand._

 **Hope** **:** _Good. Then let's get to work._

 **Shadow** **:** Hmph.

 **Nicole** **:** _Of course._

For a month plus one week, we stayed with Hope in her secret armory. Because of her job, she wasn't always there for the testing of her equipment. In that time, Hope had created new equipment for Shadow, as well as repaired my holo-matrix. I was once again able to project my corporeal body… It felt good to actually **feel** the world around me again. Although I… couldn't be sure, I could've sworn that… while I was enjoying being **me** again, that I saw Shadow… smile… just for a moment.

Finally, the tests had been done, the suit was finished, the weapons were prepped, and it was time to go, but Shadow still needed to do one more thing before leaving.

 **Shadow** **:** _Hope?_

 **Hope** **:** _…?_

 **Shadow** **:** _I… just wanted to thank you for… everything._

 **Hope** **:** _…_

 **Shadow** **:** _And to say… "I'm sorry" one final time._

 **Hope** **:** _…_

 **Shadow** **:** _... I'm sorry… for… letting things turn out the way they did… for forgetting about you, Rouge, Omega… everyone._

 **Hope** **:** _…_

 **Shadow** **:** _But I promise you, I'll make things right._

 **Hope** **:** _…_

 **Shadow** **:** _And when I say "promise", I mean it, just like I did when I promised Maria. No matter how long it takes, I will not rest until everything is right… and I can face you and the others again… without a mask._

 **Hope** **:** _…_

 **Shadow** **:** (sigh) _… goodbye Hope._

After Shadow had said what he needed to say, he retrieved my handheld and we prepared to leave… on foot… with two dozen crates of supplies. Just when Shadow was about to grab the supplies, Hope came into the armory…

 **Hope** **:** _Hey, wait! Hold on!_

… and she was wearing something that I hadn't seen since she saw me a thirty-seven days ago, a genuine smile.

 **Shadow** **:** _Hope?_

 **Hope** **:** _You can't expect me to just sit idly by and let you carry all of this by yourself. Besides, there's no way you can get this stuff onto Angel Island. I wouldn't be surprised if you get caught the second you walk right out of this building._

 **Shadow** **:** _Where are you going with this?_

 **Hope** **:** _Bring that stuff and follow me._

We followed her through the armory. After approximately six minutes, we had approached a large metal door. Hope walked over to an access panel beside the door and typed in, what I could only presume to be a passcode. Once the code was entered, the door began to lift open.

 **Hope** **:** _When I had some free-time, and left you two to deal with testing my new equipment, I started working on something I've been dying to finish for a very long time._

Behind the door was a hanger, but there was something inside that made Shadow stand in awe. Something that made me come out of my handheld so that I may see it in person. Inside, there sat a moderately sized jet, but it looked brand new… and fast.

 **Hope** **:** _This stealth-jet can reach midair speeds that can rival yours, Shadow. I decided to improve the design and maneuverability. With your new cape, I decided to make it so that you can be ejected from the plane without the seat flying with you. The pilot seat itself drops down remotely from the bottom for easy boarding. It's also titanium plated with reinforced glass protecting the cockpit. It's equipped with twin grappling hooks, extra jet propulsion, state-of-the-art navigation, silencers built right into the jets and radar jammers for stealth-mode, flare shooters, twin rocket launchers, and your choice non-lethal weaponry. Oh! And it has a detachable, supercharged, mag-lock claw for heavy lifting. Though, I_ should _warn you that the extra weight may slow you down. And it_ may _be built as a one seater, but if you don't have a problem with boundaries, then it_ can _hold two… What do you think?_

 **Nicole** **:** _Hope, this is…_

 **Shadow** **:** Hmph _, PERFECT._

Hope seemed pleased by our response.

 **Hope** **:** _Now, as for names, I was originally going to give a long unnecessary designation number, but now I think I've found a better name for it;_ _ **The Sneakwing**_ _._

 **Shadow** **:** Hmph _, even_ more _perfect. Hope, thank you._

 **Nicole** **:** _Hope, thank you._

 **Shadow** **:** _Yes, thank you… uh?!_

Shadow extended his hand but Hope surprised both of us when she instead kneeled down, threw her arms around his shoulders, gave him a tight hug.

 **Hope** **:** _Just make sure you keep your promise._

At first, Shadow was surprised, but he soon smiled and returned the gesture. Though this felt like it I wasn't meant to see this personal moment between them, I could help but smile at it. This was, in fact, the first time I had ever seen Shadow in such a way. I couldn't help but feel happy for him that he had regained one of his closest friends.

The moment didn't last too long however, as Shadow noticed that I had been watching and quickly ended the embrace.

 **Shadow** **:** Ahem _, um… Dr. Kintobor._

 **Hope** **:** _Hm, Shadow. Nicole._

After a handshake between the two of them and a warm hug between me and Hope, I re-entered my handheld and Shadow walked us over to the Sneakwing.

 **Hope** **:** _This, just like your new cowl, can either be controlled by the pilot, or by the "co-pilot"._

And by "co-pilot", she meant me. Hope had made it so that I, and I alone, am granted access to such equipment. This way, I can aid Shadow whenever he is out in the field and requires assistance. I decided to test out the "co-pilot" function. I then proceeded to download myself into the Sneakwing. The process was successful. I was in complete control of the jet. After I lowered the pilot seat, Shadow climbed aboard. The seat then rose back into place and Shadow took control.

 **Hope (shouting)** **:** _Just keep driving forward! I'll open the hanger doors at the far side of the tunnel!_

With that, Shadow then turned to Hope and gave her a salute, which she happily returned. Shadow then turned his attention back to the hanger bay and started the jet's engines, which soon ignited to life. The jet slowly arose from the floor and the landing gear retracted into the wings. The jet slowly turned to face the tunnel. As Hope proceeded to move our equipment beneath the Sneakwing, I activated claw and mag-locked the equipment to the jet. With a slight press of the throttle, the jet began moving forward. After a second the jet's speed began to increase.

While I was still in the Sneakwing's computer, I could see the light from the moon outside shine in from the far side of the tunnel, as Hope stated, but the doors appeared to be opening slowly, and our speed only grew faster. I had forgotten how old this facility must have been, thus resulting in the doors' gears being rusted and slow.

At first, I feared that we wouldn't make it in time, but Shadow showed no intention of stopping. I decided to trust him, and as we quickly approached the end of the hanger bay doors, Shadow quickly twisted the controls, thus resulting in the plane turning to the side, allowing it to barely fit threw. Sparks flew as the wings scratched the doors, roof, and floor, causing the darkness inside the hanger to recede from the faint orange light.

We then reached the outside and jet began its quick ascent, protected from unwanted attention by the night's minor darkness. However, although we had acquired all of the necessary equipment, there was still one more issue that needed to be addressed.

 **Nicole** **:** _Shadow._

 **Shadow** **:** _Hm?_

 **Nicole** **:** _Once we arrive on Angel Island, we will need a base of operations that is also well hidden away. And I can find nothing suitable from the data I had acquired from the net about the island's geology._

 **Shadow** **:** _Don't worry. I know a place that will suit us just fine._

Although that was all merely a year ago, it currently feels like it has been **much** longer.

 **? (faint but growing)** **:** _Nicole… Nicole…_ Nicole!

 **Nicole** **:** Hm?! Oh, sorry. I guess I was lost in thought. Shadow has come so far but he doesn't seem content yet. He still feels the need to hide behind a mask. Don't worry, Sasha. It can't be much longer until he finally feels ready to reveal himself.

 **Sasha** **:** _(sigh)_ I hope your right. Because I don't know how much more of… _**this**_ I can take.

 _ **BREEP BREEP BREEP**_

The sound of the alarm accompanying the red light above the pod was the signal that Shadow was ready to emerge from the C.R.P. (chaos revitalization pod). The girls moved to see the inside of the pod and watched as the green liquid drained from it, and Shadow's wrists were freed from the cords. After a minute, the capsule then began opening, releasing steam from the seams between the door and the pod. Once the door was no longer in Shadow's way, he jumped out of the C.R.P. in front of the girls.

 **Nicole** **:** How do you feel, Shadow?

 **Shadow** **:** _(sigh)_ Better, thank you.

The C.R.P. certainly did its job. The wounds around his body were completely healed. Without another word, Shadow made his way to his computer, which was composed of several monitors of various sizes. Shadow sat in front of the computer and stared at the many monitors, despite there not really being anything to see. He then started scanning through random radio frequencies.

 **Nicole** **:** Shadow, there are no other emergencies.

 **Shadow** **:** That can change at any moment. White Fang may be behind bars, but there might still be other crimes out there.

 **Sasha** **:** I'm sure that everything's fine, Shadow. I think it's time to call it a night.

 **Shadow** **:** Then you should probably get some sleep. You've been up for too long, you'll tire yourself out.

 **Sasha** **:** You know that is not what I-!

 **Nicole** **:** Sasha, I think you should take Shadow's advice. He'll be fine for now.

With a sigh, Sasha soon relented and made her way back to her apartment.

 **Sasha** **:** Goodnight, Nicole… Shadow.

 **Nicole** **:** Goodnight, Sasha.

 **Shadow** **:** Yes, goodnight.

From behind him, Shadow could hear the sound of her footsteps. He kept listening until he heard the entrance close behind her.


End file.
